The Passion 'Takes $20 million' on First Day

Times On Line.UK via NewsPundit.net ^ | 2/26/2004 | Times and A Staff

[ex-Texan]

The Passion 'Takes $20 million' on First Day

The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson's controversial film about the last days of Jesus, took $20 million at the box office in its first day, according to its distributor.

The much-hyped and criticised blockbuster drew thousands in early morning screenings in the US yesterday and continued to draw crowds later in the day. It also opened in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Christians raved about its strong religious message but some said that it was gory and overly-violent.

Jewish groups had complained that it portrayed Jews as cruel and responsible for Jesus's death.

The film's distributor, Newmarket Films, told Variety magazine that it estimated the film would take around $20 million (£10.74m) in gross sales on the first day. The company did not specify if this was US or worldwide sales.

Yesterday afternoon, Bob Berney, Newmarket's president, told Variety, "We're well over $7 million on the matinees alone and that's just 857 theatres reporting."

More than A$500,000 (£209,000) worth of tickets had been sold across Australia in the lead up to yesterday's release of the film, Channel Seven reported. Mel Gibson grew up in Sydney.

The Passion was playing on more than 4,600 screens in the US. In one Dallas suburb an estimated 6,000 people filled all 20 auditoriums at a multiplex to watch the film after a local Christian financial planner donated $42,000-worth of tickets to churchgoers.

The film dominated cable television news programmes across the US, such as Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. The broadcasters interviewed clergy and moviegoers and played violent clips over and over.

One woman collapsed during the bloody crucifixion scene and later died in hospital. The Witchita Eagle reported that the cause of death for Peggy Law Scott, 57 of Wichita, Kansas, was not immediately known.

Bruce Davey, chairman of Mel Gibson's Icon Productions, said that the high interest was not surprising. The controversy had only piqued interest, he said.

Film industry analysts estimated that interest would not remain at such a high level and that the film would take $50 million to $70 million in its first five days.

Cinema owners estimated that church groups would continue to buy in bulk throughout the Easter season.

But some devout Christians could not see the film. The Mormon church forbids missionaries from watching television or films and discourages its followers from watching R-rated films, of which The Passion is one.

"I don't think our Lord would want me to see an R-rated film about his son," said 20-year-old Shawn Watts, a Mormon missionary, in Salt Lake City.

The current first-day box office record for a film released outside the summer and Christmas seasons is held by Hannibal which took $19.8m in February 2001.

The biggest takings for a film opening on a Wednesday stand at $34.1 million (£18.3m) for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

[ex-Texan]

You may access many reviews of Gibson's "Passion" and many more reports on its huge success Here.

[2banana]

The Passion 'Takes $20 million' on First Day

And that was a Wednesday...

[per loin]

"We're well over $7 million on the matinees alone and that's just 857 theatres reporting."

That sounds like the total day's take was considerably above $20 million.

[alloysteel]

Not bad, for a mid-week opening. And we still have not gotten into the first weekend yet.

Be all that as it may, the most important contribution of this film will not be its monetary success, but in redefining the Christ for generations who may not have realized the full impact of the Crucifixion. This is a long way from the Sunday School interpretations that have watered down the meaning of sacrifice and forgiveness to the point of mere platitudes.

[InvisibleChurch]

i wonder what return business will be like? i can't see it as a movie that someone would want to see over and over, unlike the insipid Titanic

[commish]

That sounds like the total day's take was considerably above $20 million.

It has to be way off. $7 MIllion at 857 theaters. The movie opened in 3000 theaters. That alone brings the take to over $22 Million, and that is JUST FOR THE MATINEES!

Since it is Newmarket that floated the number, I think they were conservatively lowballing the number to up th WOW factor when the actual figures are released.

[chuckr]

I wonder why this movie only got an R rating, I guess it is just another example of profits driving ethics!

[per loin]

I'll see it again, perhaps today, as the initial seeing so overwhelms the sensorium that most of the fuses controlling aesthetic judgement get blown. I've no doubt that Gibson has created a masterpiece. How great a masterpiece won't be apparent for a while.

[InvisibleChurch]

Wait a week... the movie is selling out to Christian audiences... leave some room for non-believers! : )

[per loin]

Neither I, nor those I went with yesterday are Christians.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

But some devout Christians could not see the film. The Mormon church forbids missionaries from watching television or films and discourages its followers from watching R-rated films, of which The Passion is one.

I will be interested in seeing the numbers from Utah.

[freedomson]

Huh?

[freedomson]

Any chance you'll join up?

[tcuoohjohn]

I saw it it. One can politely call it a slasher film for the religiously oriented. I went to be moved and inspired. I found myself revolted and nauseated.

[per loin]

Unlikely. I walk a path of my own.

[freedomson]

Is the path nice and wide and easily traveled?

[per loin]

It's mine.

[jonboy]

If you believe what the Bible teaches, Jesus death, which was approximated by this movie, occurred for your sins so that you can be reconciled to God. What He went through to accomplish this was revolting and nauseating. The fact that He loved us enough to go through that horror is inspiring.

[jonboy]

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

Be careful where that path leads.

[freedomson]

Okay then, I guess the answer is yes.