[texas booster]

More on the money thing. According to Drudge, the movie ended Wednesday at over $26,556,573 showing in 3,006 theaters. No other movie that has opened on a (non-holiday) Wednesday has grossed more. This total may not include the Monday and Tuesday matinees, which sold about $3,000,000 in tickets.

To compare, Matrix Revolutions grossed $24,311,365 playing in 3,502 theaters, opening on the first Wednesday in November. I seem to recall theaters having midnight showings on Tuesday night, partly offsetting the Monday and Tuesday matinees of The Passion.

On its first day, also a Wednesday, ROTK grossed $34,450,834 showing on 3,703 theaters. ROTK had multiple, full price midnight showings on its first day, which inflated the totals. It also had subtitles, but was mostly in English. OTOH, it is a 3+ hour long movie.

The Passion beats out the other two LOTR, all Star Wars flicks (possibly including Phantom Menace), and most other main stream movies. I am now hearing estimates of ticket sales approaching the $100,000,000 mark by the end of the weekend.

Incredible!

[McGavin999]

And what did it cost to produce ROTK? And the fact is ROTK was the third part of a series people were already waiting to see.