$125,185,971 - THE PASSION Biggest 5 Day Opener Ever

[southerngale]

Yesterday's estimates of approximately $117 million were way too low. This means that THE PASSION has surpassed last year's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" as the best five-day figures for a movie opening on Wednesday. (LOTR brought in $124.1 million)
My ticket is included in that amount. The theater was packed and when I left, there was a long line waiting to go in. It's worth seeing in the theater if you're contemplating waiting on the DVD. I may go see it again when my parents go. They bought 2 tickets for yesterday but couldn't go and gave them away.


Daily ticket sales breakdown...
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=passionofthechrist.htm

[southerngale]

After opening with an astonishing $125.2 million over five days, Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" is positioned to get even bigger as the Christian season of Lent leads up to Easter on April 11.

The box-office total announced Monday by distributor Newmarket Films pushed "The Passion" past "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" ($124.1 million) for biggest debut ever by a film opening on a Wednesday - Ash Wednesday, in this case.

The total was almost $8 million more than Newmarket first estimated, because far more people turned out Sunday to see Gibson's grisly crucifixion recreation than originally predicted.

"I think we'll see strong bookings leading up to Easter, and I would anticipate Easter would be a huge weekend," said Bruce Davey, Gibson's partner at his film company, Icon Productions.

Full story: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040302/D81201I00.html

[isobar]

I hope not only that this movie makes boatloads of bucks, but that many will be filled with the message of Christ and will understand the depths of His love.