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The Passion of the Christ (2004)

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In 2004, the faith-based film genre received a jolt from an unlikely source. Mel Gibson, who secured his international movie stardom in the “Mad Max” and “Lethal Weapon” franchises, had proven his worth as a filmmaker with the 1995 “Braveheart,” winning Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. Gibson was no stranger to Jesus-centric films – his Icon Productions was one of the companies that backed the animated feature “The Miracle Maker” – and the financial success he secured from his movies enabled him to independently finance his own feature on Jesus.

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Thunderbolts* (2025)

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When the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most morally ambiguous anti-heroes are all individually sent out on the same black ops mission, none of them expected to wind up on a team. The makeshift group, affectionately named The Thunderbolts, find themselves threatened by a mutual enemy that wants to see them, and a seemingly harmless man named Bob, stricken from existence. This premise helps Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* stand out from the rest of their superhero offerings. And yes, the asterisk in the title serves a purpose.

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The Bootleg Files: Disney’s Yellow Submarine

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BOOTLEG FILES 906: “Disney’s Yellow Submarine” (cancelled animated feature from the early 2010s).

LAST SEEN: Bits and pieces of the pre-production planning are on YouTube and Internet Archive.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Disney never made any of the material available for commercial sale.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely, unless a documentary on the subject is made.

Last month, this column shined its spotlight on “Strawberry Fields,” an aborted animated feature using covers of Beatles songs that was being produced in the late 1980s by Al Brodax, the producer of the 1968 classic “Yellow Submarine.” This week, we take a look at another piece of Beatles-related ephemera – a much-ballyhooed but quickly cancelled remake of “Yellow Submarine” that was planned for production and release by The Walt Disney Company.
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