The Weinstein Company movie, “Mary Magdalene,” will not open on Good Friday. It is being moved to a later date.
Catholic League members will recall that our February appeal was a request for donations that would fund a media blitz against the movie. We cited three aspects of this movie that were objectionable: its opening on Good Friday; the Harvey Weinstein connection; and the film’s script.
The Weinstein Company told the media that it moved the movie’s opening date due to internal chaos at the company. They cited Harvey Weinstein’s dismissal from the company, which followed a series of sexual misconduct accusations, for the disruption.
Did the Catholic League have anything to do with postponing the movie’s opening date?
Bill Donohue wrote to the head of the Weinstein Company on December 21, registering his three objections. One month later, almost to the day, it was announced that the film’s opening date would be postponed. It is true that two other movies were also postponed, but in both cases time constraints were operative: they were slated to open prior to “Magdalene,” thus forcing a quick decision.
It is therefore possible that the company saw a chance to move the film off of Good Friday without appearing to yield to the Catholic League, citing internal problems.
No matter, we will use donations raised in February to address our second and third complaints.
