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'Passion' a Box Office Hit on First Day (The Passion of the Christ)
yahoo ^ | By DAVID GERMAIN

Posted on 02/25/2004 3:58:46 PM PST by miltonim

LOS ANGELES - Mel Gibson (news)'s "The Passion of the Christ" took in an estimated $15 million to $20 million after just one day of release, a remarkable number for a religious-themed movie so divisive that no Hollywood studio would touch it.

"The Passion" rang up $7 million in matinee ticket sales alone in the United States and Canada on Wednesday, said Rob Schwartz, head of distribution for Newmarket Films, which Gibson hired to release the movie after studios balked.

With an estimated $3 million from private screenings for church groups Monday and Tuesday in advance of Wednesday's official opening, grosses for "The Passion" were expected to climb as high as $20 million once evening screenings are counted, Schwartz said.

Final numbers were to be released Thursday.

That falls far short of the single-day record of $43.6 million held by "Spider-Man," but "The Passion" already has passed the receipts that other modern religious films took in during their entire runs, among them "The Last Temptation of Christ" ($8.4 million) and "The Omega Code" ($12.5 million).

"The Passion" opened on 4,643 screens in 3,006 theaters.

"I think the prospects are certainly good for at least hitting $100 million overall. Then again, we have to see how the rest of the weekend plays out," Schwartz said. "Hopefully, if we continue the torrid pace we're starting to set now, that's an achievable number."

Gibson put up the film's $25 million budget out of his own pocket. After theater owners take their cut, about half of the box office take will come back to Gibson, who then pays Newmarket a percentage fee for distribution.

The film, starring Jim Caviezel (news) as Jesus, is a bloody depiction of Christ's final hours and crucifixion. The movie's box-office prospects benefited from months of debate as Gibson built grassroots support by screening it for church groups and excluding potential critics, while some Christian and Jewish leaders complained that it could fuel anti-Semitism by implying Jews were collectively responsible for Christ's death


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: christ; movie; passion; ticketsales
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1 posted on 02/25/2004 3:58:47 PM PST by miltonim
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To: miltonim
This is really great. At the least this film will make people think. I heard on the radio today that critics are saying it's too violent. I say deal with it, it was a violent event and the world is violent.
2 posted on 02/25/2004 4:04:52 PM PST by vpintheak (Our Liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain!)
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To: miltonim
Figure most Christian households will purchase a DVD. Figure this will be a mega-hit from Korea to Nigeria to Brazil and every where in-between. Figure a huge repeat business.

I estimate a $300 million gross on these bases.

3 posted on 02/25/2004 4:06:57 PM PST by FormerACLUmember (Man rises to greatness if greatness is expected of him)
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To: miltonim
Mel Gibson (news)'s "The Passion of the Christ" took in an estimated $15 million to $20 million after just one day of release

Where did Yahoo! get these numbers? Its still Wednesday, and I know for a fact that all of the evening shows tonight (around here at least) are sold out. I think you can probably double that $15 to $20 million figure.

4 posted on 02/25/2004 4:07:20 PM PST by Johnny_Cipher (Making hasenfeffer out of bunnyrabbits since 1980)
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To: miltonim

Bet those folks stayed out in movie lines for months to see this drek realize their time would have been better spent in Mel's line.

5 posted on 02/25/2004 4:07:56 PM PST by KantianBurke (Principles, not blind loyalty)
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To: vpintheak
I heard on the radio today that critics are saying it's too violent.

"Hypocritics" who all of a sudden found a movie that is violent! Never in Hollywood's history has a movie with violence been made!

6 posted on 02/25/2004 4:09:08 PM PST by FormerACLUmember (Man rises to greatness if greatness is expected of him)
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To: vpintheak
"I heard on the radio today that critics are saying it's too violent."

These are obviously the same critics that called Oliver Stone to task for "Natural Born Killers." < /sarcasm>

7 posted on 02/25/2004 4:11:40 PM PST by Joe 6-pack ("We deal in hard calibers and hot lead." - Roland Deschaines)
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To: miltonim
...That falls far short of the single-day record of $43.6 million held by "Spider-Man"...

How many theaters did Spiderman open in, anyway???
8 posted on 02/25/2004 4:13:00 PM PST by luckymom (No more Clark!!! Kucinich outlasts the Clinton sock-puppet!)
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To: luckymom
3,615

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spiderman.htm
9 posted on 02/25/2004 4:16:06 PM PST by miltonim
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To: FormerACLUmember
Figure this will be a mega-hit from Korea to Nigeria to Brazil and every where in-between. Figure a huge repeat business.

Gibson's decision to have the dialogue in Aramaic with subtitles puzzled some... but it makes sense... everyone, worldwide, gets to have the same "experience".

10 posted on 02/25/2004 4:18:14 PM PST by ambrose ("John Kerry has blood of American soldiers on his hands" - Lt. Col. Oliver North)
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To: miltonim
Let's do a little math. Assume the 20 million figure.

I have seen that it is opening on 4500 screens. So that is is $4444 per screen assuming 20 million total. Now, let's assume 5 showings a day for each screen. So that is $888 per showing. Finally, assume $8.00 per ticket. That means that there are an average of 111 seats filled for each viewing.

Now, maybe I am wrong, but most of the theaters I have been to have a lot more than 111 seats. I don't know the average number of seats in a theater. Let's just say 500, which is probably low, and let's assume only 80% capacity per viewing (which is probably low given what we have heard about today). That would be 400 seats x $8 = $3200 per viewing. $3200 x 5 viewings per day is $16,000 per screen. $16,000 x 4500 screens means a first day take of $72 million.

Did I do that right? Somebody want to check my math? Also, if anyone has better stats on theaters feel free to recalc? Bottom line, 20 million seems low.

11 posted on 02/25/2004 4:22:21 PM PST by Pete
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To: luckymom
3,615 theaters
12 posted on 02/25/2004 4:24:58 PM PST by rit
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To: Pete
I have seen that it is opening on 4500 screens.

I've read 2800 screens from several sources.

13 posted on 02/25/2004 4:25:20 PM PST by pbear8 (no complaining...Thanks be to God)
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To: vpintheak
Passion bttt.
14 posted on 02/25/2004 4:25:52 PM PST by lodwick (Wake up, America!)
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To: luckymom
What he doesn't explain is that most movies are measured by their box office for a three-day (Fr,Sa,Su) WEEKEND opening. Anything over $25 million for the three days is generally considered great, $20 million on a single WEEKDAY is phenomenal. For example, Master & Commander, The Patriot, The Last Samurai and Cold Mountain each took in about $25 million on a three-day weekend and each went on to take in about $100 million in box office (The Patriot got $125 million).
15 posted on 02/25/2004 4:26:04 PM PST by laconic
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To: miltonim
The entire movie is in sub-titles? Latin or something is spoken the whole movie?
16 posted on 02/25/2004 4:27:12 PM PST by TexasCajun
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To: Pete
You are right, but weekday matinees are dead time for all movies. Mostly you have a 7pm and a 9:30 or 10pm show time, may a staggered one on a second screen. If you figure it for just evening screenings, they are full, with some left over for matinees.
17 posted on 02/25/2004 4:27:44 PM PST by eno_ (Freedom Lite - it's almost worth defending)
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To: pbear8
I've read 2800 screens from several sources.

From the article above

"The Passion" opened on 4,643 screens in 3,006 theaters

18 posted on 02/25/2004 4:29:03 PM PST by Pete
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To: TexasCajun
Dialog is in Aramaic and Latin, with subtitles.

This is not a user-friendly movie, making the sales even more impressive.
19 posted on 02/25/2004 4:29:21 PM PST by eno_ (Freedom Lite - it's almost worth defending)
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Comment #20 Removed by Moderator


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