Holy Mary

I am just throwing this out there for the sake of discussion. I don't know if it's significant or not. But...

Up until Friday, Apocalypto reportedly had been tracking especially well with Hispanic audiences. And yet, while some folks are estimating the movie will gross $12 million this opening weekend, other folks (including David Poland) are describing that take as less than spectacular.

So here's something to consider: On Friday, a Spanish-language, English-subtitled movie called Guadalupe -- a drama about the appearance of the Virgin Mary 475 years ago at the hill of Tepeyac, near Mexico City -- opened in 230 theaters nationwide (mostly in cities with large Hispanic and Catholic populations). The release was set to coincide with the Dec. 12 Our Lady of Guadalupe feast day, not to compete with Apocalypto. But might Guadalupe be siphoning off moviegoers -- i.e., Hispanics and/or faithful churchgoers -- who might otherwise have gone to see a movie by the director of The Passion of the Christ this weekend?

I ask this not as a Mel Gibson apologist, but as someone who thinks that we often underestimate the size of Hispanic and Christian audiences -- groups that strongly supported Gibson's Passion during that film's very spectacular theatrical run.

And speaking of Apocalypto -- who came up with that grammatically incorrect tagline? "No one can outrun their destiny" should read "No one can outrun his destiny." Or "her destiny."