Mel Gibson Film '5th Largest Opening in History'

Newsmax ^ | 2-26-04 | Carl Limbacher

[truthandlife]

In the face of a vicious and sustained campaign attacking both Mel Gibson and his film "The Passion of the Christ" the opening day box office receipts Wednesday soared to $23.5 million with an additional $3 million take in advance screenings held Monday and Tuesday.

The film opened on 4,600 screens in 3,006 theaters on Wednesday.

According to the New York Times which has been in an attack mode against Gibson and his film since he first began filming the Passion, it was the fifth largest opening in Hollywood history with "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," hanging on to first place with opening day receipts of $34.4 million.

Industry experts told the Times that the box-office figure was astonishing for an extremely violent, R-rated, religious film in Aramaic and Latin with English subtitles.

"This number would be impressive for a mainstream blockbuster, let alone a subtitled historical-religious epic," Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks ticket sales told the Times. "This shows the power of public discourse with regard to religious topics and the effect a full-blown media blitz can have on the public."

Bob Berney, president of Newmarket Films, which is distributing the picture, told the Times he expected the number of theaters to increase slightly next week because of the intense interest. The film is already moving to more screens on Friday, for a total of 4,793 in 3,043 theaters.

"The success of the film so far is incredible, and it's across the board," Berney told the Times adding that theaters were packed not just in Bible Belt cities like Houston and Oklahoma City, but also at the AMC theater on 42nd Street in Manhattan and the soaring ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood. The Times reported that some producers and studio executives said the film would probably take in $75 million by the close of the weekend and, if attendance continued to hold up, could take in as much as $100 million in the first five days.

"My feeling is these people will go back more than once," Mr. Berney said. "And with this kind of number, people who are not part of churches will go just out of feeling that they've got to see it, a curiosity. I don't know how long it will go," he added "but there will be enough repeat business to sustain it for quite a while."

[truthandlife]

'Passion' ping

[bogdanPolska12]

God works in mysterious ways doesn't he. Take that liberals more you complain and more you dwell God shots you down.

[4CJ]

Will see it Saturday. Kudos to Mr. Gibson and all involved.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

MEL's -PASSION- sparked by -WE WERE SOLDIERS-


http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=39081

.

[11th Earl of Mar]

Yes, indeed.

Touche`!

[billorites]

"Will see it Saturday"

Don't spoil it and tell us how it ends please.

[rocky88]

I was just watching O'Reilly and he was reading his emails at the end of the show - one guy wrote something that really made me smile..

and I paraphrase, "Hey Bill, Guess What? We're all talking about Jesus! Isn't it wonderful!"

[ServesURight]

Gibson has already broke even! And he still has the weekend coming up...

This film is going to break Titanic's box-office record.

[dinok]

I saw it today. Powerful.

There is a line where Jesus says "what more can a man give to others but his life"
I was reminded of the first 20 minutes of Private Ryan, of the firefighters going in to the trade towers on 9-11 and our boys fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Jesus set the bar prety high for us to follow. Some have been trully worthy of his example.

[MaryFromMichigan]

"The success of the film so far is incredible.."

Many Freepers feel as if we have a stake in this movie. I'm glad it is doing so well.

[VOA]

Mel Gibson Film '5th Largest Opening in History'

While "The Passion" may not have the "legs" of a lot of other major Hollywood blockbustsers
in the INITIAL release...
I don't think it's any great stretch to imagine that after all the
international ticket-sales, the DVD/tape sales AND the Easter/Christmas theatrical
RE-showings...

...well, as "Nigel" as the faux record executive used to say in the British comedy
"The Young Ones" about a potentially big record deal:
"This could be mega."

[commish]

The article is slightly disengenious, but not too much.

Passion is the 9th Biggest Opening in History

It is the 5th Biggest MIDWEEK Opening.

NOow what they definately didn't mention : It is the ALLTIME BIGGEST OPENING for any movie that did not open During the Summer (may-Aug) or Holiday (nov-Dec) timeframe.

[MaryFromMichigan]

bump for ALOHA RONNIE's post #5...

[daler]

"The film opened on 4,600 screens in 3,006 theaters on Wednesday."

I wonder how many screens most of the "blockbusters" were alloted for their big openings?

Could be wrong, but I'm guessing substantially more.

[AppyPappy]

You think this is big? Wait until Good Friday. It's going to happen all over again.

[commish]

I wonder how many screens most of the "blockbusters" were alloted for their big openings?

I did a comparison between Passion and Spiderman on another thread.

Spidey opened on 3700 theaters on 7500 screens on a FRIDAY and did $43.6 Million -- an Average of $5700 per screen(that is the alltime, LOTR's 34.4 noted in the article is alltime midweek)

PAssion opened on 4600 screens in 3000 theaters for an Average of $5600 per screen.

So, on a PER SCREEN basis only, PASSION opened on a Wed with basically the same Average Per Screen as SPIDERMAN on a FRIDAY.

[randog]

...people who are not part of churches will go just out of feeling that they've got to see it, a curiosity.

I think it's more than that. Regardless of your religious leanings, the story of Christ is truly the greatest story ever told.

[TomServo]

Let's also consider it opened mid-week. Pretty impressive either way. My bet is that it will bust out (big time!) this weekend.

[NewHampshireDuo]

We just got home from seeing it. But "seeing it" isn't the right word. Can't describe it. This is a film for the ages as is the topic.