Both Hollywood films were partly financed by the Vatican
(Credits: Away/Philip Collard)
Throughout the history of Hollywood, many films have been financed in strange ways.
when Monty Python’s Life of Brian After its funding was pulled by the studio, whose executives found its subject matter offensive, Monty Python member Eric Idle contacted his friend, former Beatle George Harrison, and asked for financial assistance. Being a fan of the Pythons, Harrison accepted his request and ended up contributing around £2 million to the production, which became one of the most popular comedies of all time.
after two years, Inchon, an infamous war film and historical box office bomb, was partly financed by the Unification Church, a controversial religious movement in South Korea. Meanwhile, a classic horror movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre It was partly funded with mob money. Recently, in a particularly bizarre case, it emerged that the Vatican had partially financed two major Hollywood releases.
Every year Catholics send money to the Pope to be used for charitable purposes. This is known as Peter’s penny. A 2019 investigation by Corriere della Sera newspaper revealed that the majority of the funds are not actually used for their intended purpose, but are instead used for other investments, such as administrative loopholes and various other financial schemes.
One of these investments was in the Centurion Global Fund, based in Malta. The fund was said to be worth about $83 million, about two-thirds of which came from the Vatican. This fund would later partially finance two films. One was the Hollywood blockbuster Men in Black: Internationalthe fourth part of the Men in Black series, the other being the biopic of Elton John Rocket man.
The latter is particularly ironic. As many have pointed out, including Sir Elton John himself, even though Catholic Church doctrine is mostly against homosexuality and even though the Catholic Church still prohibits same-sex marriage, the Vatican partly funded this true-to-life story of a young musician coming to terms. With who he really is. Rocket man It also ended up being the first major studio film to depict a gay sex scene on screen.
The Vatican has never confirmed or denied its investment in films. However, Pope Francis ordered radical changes to the Vatican’s finances.
So, were any other films inadvertently funded by the Vatican? It is certainly possible, but if so, none of the others have been discovered. Not yet, though.
