Could be. Here's what I wonder. Will this film be nominated for an academy award? (I'm guessing not, though it might be, just in order to entirely snub it on the awards show.)
Back to earth. It won't even be the most widely viewed movie of the year, let alone in history. Spider-Man 2, this 4th of July weekend, will almost certainly be a bigger hit - it looks better than the first one, isnt hampered by explaining SM's origin, and the first one made $ 300 million in 22 days domestically, and a total of over $400 mill domestic. I expect SM2 to get to $300million faster, and clear the $ 400million mark as well.
I think The Passion will be a huge hit, (I'll be seeing it that first Saturday) probably setting records for films opening in February, and it will be one of the bigger films of the year, clocking in at around $ 250 million or so worldwide.
Fearless prediction: this movie will make back Gibson's production and distribution costs on opening weekend. The revenues will enable Gibson to evangelize on a level not before seen
World on the Web:The film industry magazine Variety reports that Nielsen NRG ratings predict an opening weekend gross of $15 million to $30 million, and that audience awareness is tracking far higher than other upcoming theatrical releases—despite the fact that most of these have employed much more extensive mainstream marketing campaigns. ... Lately, nearly half of online ticket seller Fandango's sales have been advance tickets for The Passion.
WIS News:New Mel Gibson movie about Jesus sold out around Columbia(Ohio)