'Dawn of the Dead' debuts with $27.3 million, dethroning 'Passion'

CNN.Com / Entertainment ^ | Sunday, March 21, 2004 Posted: 4:56 PM EST (2156 GMT) | AP

[Bobby777]

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Audiences feasted on zombies as the fright flick "Dawn of the Dead" ruled the box office, debuting with $27.3 million and bumping "The Passion of the Christ" from the top spot.

Mel Gibson's "The Passion" took in $19.2 million, slipping to second place after three straight weekends on top, according to studio estimates Sunday.

[Bobby777]

apprently America has an "appetite" for a fake story about people coming from the dead and eating the live ones, rather than a story about the Son of God Who rose from the dead to offer Free Salvation ... oh well ...

[Bobby777]

FReepmail me if you'd like to be on or off this ping list ...

[Ahban]

Is the Passion of the Christ the #1 grossing R-rated movie of all time yet?

[endthematrix]

Zombies in a shopping mall? I can go see all crazed consumers at my local outlet for free, but with all the headache of parking, forget it. I'll pay the $8 and sit in a comfy chair eating popcorn and watch it on the big screen.

[Bobby777]

don't know ... but it likely will be ...

[Blzbba]

"apprently America has an "appetite" for a fake story about people coming from the dead and eating the live ones, rather than a story about the Son of God Who rose from the dead to offer Free Salvation ... oh well ..."


Huh? "Passion" has already grossed over $300 million in only a month or so and will continue to break records.

I think there's something ironic about this - a movie about the dead rising knocking out of the top spot a movie about Jesus rising from the dead, but after all the millions "Passion" has made, I don't think Mel is too upset. Besides, there's still the Easter weekend for Mel to make some more millions! And it hasn't even been released to DVD yet, which will make Mel even more millions.

"Dawn of the Dead" won't last long, nor make nearly as much money.

[Dante3]

Yes, The Passion is now #1 R-rated film.

[Burkeman1]

Amazing. This film will keep playing for years every Easter.

[pickemuphere]

apprently America has an "appetite" for a fake story about people coming from the dead and eating the live ones, rather than a story about the Son of God Who rose from the dead to offer Free Salvation ... oh well ...

What -- did you envision "The Passion" remaining #1 forever? Face it, we Americans have a short attention span. And we love our zombie movies. (DotD is worth seeing, btw. Scary stuff!)

[Bobby777]

I mean this past weekend ...

[Bobby777]

nah, but I thought of all the films to remake ... yuk ... I saw about 1/2 of "Night of ..." ... that was enough for me ...

[Blzbba]

I mean this past weekend ...



Oh. Well, I guess that most of the people who are gonna see "Passion" already have or are waiting for Holy Week. One of the financial pre-release criticisms I read was that, due to the violent nature of the movie, repeat viewership would be lower than you'd expect for a movie that would inevitably make so much money. So I guess that says a lot about how many one-time viewers it had when compared to the repeat viewers of other classics like "Return of the King", or "Star Wars".

I don't know of anyone who would sit thru "Passion" 30+ times, like some of the diehard "Star Wars" fans. But then, I'm not the type to see ANY movie more than once, so what do I know? :)

[Blzbba]

"And we love our zombie movies. (DotD is worth seeing, btw. Scary stuff!)"


Is it? As someone who's seen all of Romero's works, I'm curious about the difference with this movie's zombies. I.E., Romero's zombies were all a bunch of lumbering fools that won due to their inevitability, whereas these "new" zombies appear to be much faster?

Give me your take, without spoilers if possible!

[Bobby777]

yeah 30+ might be a bit much ... I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard it's pretty rough ... my pastor has gone 3 times but is deep into the Biblical aspects of it ...

I guess of all the films, I didn't expect DotD to beat out the Passion this weekend ... but of course, it will fall to 3rd, etc. ... it will be interesting as it continues to go around the world ... story is that it's playing in Saudi Arabia ... I find this hard to believe, frankly ... or that it is very widespread ...

[Bobby777]

I can't count how many times I've watched "Fletch" ... but I'll bet it's at least 30 ... 8)

[Choose Ye This Day]

It's all ball bearings these days.

[Caipirabob]

A collective sigh of relief issues forth from Hollywood...

[pickemuphere]

As someone who's seen all of Romero's works, I'm curious about the difference with this movie's zombies. I.E., Romero's zombies were all a bunch of lumbering fools that won due to their inevitability, whereas these "new" zombies appear to be much faster?

I also worried about the scare-effect of faster zombies. However, I think it works for the most part. It's scarier out in the open; but not so scary in the parking garage (or the mall itself). The slow zombies of the original were very scary in close quarters.

I think you'll enjoy the movie. There are some nice tributes to the older films, along with plenty of new stuff.

[Bobby777]

that's a terrific wing ... I love the shape ...

I know, I'm just trying to get a bird's eye view and oh, ho ho ... oh yeah, it's the humidity ...

now you prepare that Fetzer valve with some 3-in-1 oil and some gauze pads ... and I'm gonna need 10 quarts of anti-freeze, preferably Prestone ... no, make that Quaker State ...

and there's filth muck on these windows ...

I have reviewed it at Amazon.Com ... "My Favorite Comedy of All Time" ...

[Choose Ye This Day]

Fetzer valve. I love it. What a classic.

"Can I borrow your towel? My car just hit a water buffalo."

"Those are three of my favorite names: Marvin, Velma, and Provo."

"Nugent. Ted Nugent."

Unfortunately, Chevy's career had nowhere to go but down after Fletch.