Benedict Fitzgerald

Benedict Fitzgerald (born 1949) is an American screenwriter who co-wrote the screenplay for The Passion of the Christ with Mel Gibson. His other writing credits include a television screenplay of Moby-Dick in 1998 (uncredited) and Wise Blood in 1979.

His latest project is Mary, Mother of the Christ, which is in pre-production by MGM.

Benedict is the son of Sally and poet/critic Robert Fitzgerald. When he was a child, one of his baby sitters was novelist Flannery O'Connor.

On February 11, 2008, Benedict Fitzgerald filed a lawsuit against Mel Gibson and the production company Icon Productions, alleging the unfair deprivation of compensation and deception on the overall expense of the film production budget after the blockbuster box office success of the film The Passion of the Christ, including but not limited to "fraud, breach of contract & unjust enrichment" seeking unspecified damages. According to his lawsuit, Fitzgerald says he "accepted a salary substantially less than what he would have taken had he known the true budget for the film," agreeing to an undisclosed "relatively small salary," a 75,000 dollar production bonus, another 75,000 dollars if the movie broke even, and then five percent of revenues. Fitzgerald received a loan of $200,000 from Gibson in December 2003 backed by his share of the film’s future profits as collateral.

In May 2009, Gibson agreed to an undisclosed settlement with Fitzgerald. Details of the settlement, agreed at Los Angeles Superior Court, were not released. Gibson's representatives have not commented on the settlement.

Wise Blood (1979)

The Passion of the Christ (2004)

Mary Mother of Christ (film) (2010)

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