"Creation" May Cause Big Bang in U.S.
Church Goers Eye Darwin Bio-Pic with Concern
By SCOTT MCGREW
Updated 8:35 AM PST, Tue, Sep 15, 2009
After months of resistance, the creators of the Charles Darwin bio-pic "Creation" say they're close to getting a distribution deal in the United States.
"There is now a bidding war for the film in the US. A US deal will be in place by the end of the week." a spokesman tells NBC Bay Area.
That's a turnaround from just a few days ago, when the film's creators were lamenting film distributors' fear of being associated with the film.
"The film has no distributor in America. It has got a deal everywhere else in the world but in the US, and it's because of what the film is about. People have been saying this is the best film they've seen all year, yet nobody in the US has picked it up." producer Jeremy Thompson told the British newspaper The Telegraph.
"Creation" follows the religious struggle of Darwin as he writes "On the Origin of the Species" and has been embraced by Christian groups in Great Britain.
"You've killed God" says one of Darwin's friends.
You might think conservative church goers in the United States would line up to see the film - and they'd make a big audience: a recent Gallup poll showed only 39 percent of Americans surveyed believed in evolution. And indeed, a group called Damaris Trust, which bills itself as a Christian educational charity has set up a website to help promote the film in churches.
However, "conservative religious and the creationist groups have been so intense on demonizing Darwin that any film which shows him as a real human will likely be viewed as controversial," director John Amiel tells Reuters.
The original article confused the film's distributor, Icon Distribution, with Mel Gibson owed Icon Productions. The companies use the exact same logo and indeed Icon Distribution was once owned by Gibson. It is no longer. We regret the error.
First Published: Sep 14, 2009 11:57 AM PST
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