The Passion now considered blockbuster..surpasses Episode I opening gross

[wuushew]

LOS ANGELES - Mel Gibson’s gamble on “The Passion of the Christ” paid off enormously, riding a storm of religious debate to a $117.5 million haul in its first five days, according to studio estimates Sunday.

-snip-

“The Passion” put up the second-best five-day figures for a movie opening on Wednesday, behind last year’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” at $124.1 million and ahead of “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” at $105.6 million.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4414340/

[arewethereyet]

1. thats a lot of fannies in those seats

and every one of them is against same sex marriage. And thats just the ones who won't wait for the video/dvd.

[absolutezero]

4. not exactly

i saw it opening day and i'm not against gay marriage

most people are there to see what the hype is about, not to support ultra rightwing ideals

by the way, i work at a theater...we sold out every show this weekend, and most of the people that didn't come with church groups, and some of those that did didn't like the film

think about this, according to RWingers all peace protesters are pinko commie terrorists

please think before you stereotype

[DennisReveni]

8. "and every one of them is against same sex marriage"

Christians are not as monolithic as most people think.

[Mick Knox]

10. Ive seen it..

Not against gay marriage... sorry guys.. you guys paint with too broad a brush sometimes.. each side in a debate seems to like to stereotype entire groups of people... unfortunate. My wife isnt either....

Like it matters... its a done deal.. people are getting married.. no chance in hell of an amendment by any account I've seen.

[jonnyblitz]

11. naaa...lots of us fringe lefties saw the movie too

I know people who wouldnt set foot in a church who have gone to see the movie because of all the hype and the gore...

[regnaD kciN]

15. Not true...

every one of them is against same sex marriage

A college student I know from my church (one of the more liberal Christians I know, BTW) saw it along with some of her friends this past week. I doubt there's a single "traditional moral values" type among them.

BTW, her capsule review was (paraphrasing here) that it sucked...and was quite Biblically-inaccurate as well.

[Torgo4]

2. Coincidentally...

Wasn't baby-Aniken (sic) a virgin birth also?

A new religion in the birthin'! How exciting!!

[wuushew]

6. That was a lie

Shmi Skywalker was clearly raped by Palpatine while off planet. Luke isn't lying when he says the force runs strong in his family.

[lastknowngood]

3. and everyone a vote for bush wake up people

n/t

[wuushew]

5. Surely not everyone? Some were children

although 117 million divided by an average ticket price of $8 is over 14 million viewers.

[Touchdown]

7. Yeah, but that "witchcraft movie" Harry Potter ATSS made more.

:evilgrin:

[maggrwaggr]

9. Will Mel take Jesus' advice and give all that $$ away?

I wonder ..... hmmmmmmmm......

[anarchy1999]

12. Probably not,

Will take it and make another "passionate", "blockbuster".

What is next? Armageddon? Rich possibilities, you think? Forget not the "Rapture" as well. Endless .......

[depakid]

13. I wonder how it will do abroad?

Something tells me that this may be a largely American phenomena.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

20. No sign of it in Brazil.

I love this place. B-)

[regnaD kciN]

14. Whoop-de-doo...

Much of that gross was fundie megachurches buying out whole theaters. I get the feeling you won't be seeing that after the first few days.

Plus, most of the top-grossing films ("Titanic," the "Star Wars" films, the "LoTR" trilogy) were movies that fans went back to over and over during their theatrical run. Considering this film's incredibly-violent experience, I very much doubt that even those who raved about it as a "deeply spiritual experience" will be willing to sit through it again. Bottom line: I predict that "The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre" will drop off the top-grosser lists rather quickly. Certainly, after Easter, I think it will be last month's news...

[GodHelpUsAll2]

16. Can someone please explain to me

How this is automatically counted as a right wing "propaganda" movie? I am very democrat, a religious person, very against banning same sex marriage and very against any constitutional amendment denying any civil rights. I did go and see this movie. It was not, and I repeat NOT inaccurate according to the bible, and yes I plan to buy another ticket and go see it again. I did not see "violence" I saw how brutal things were done in that time, and how cruel humans can be. I liked the movie and my personal opinion is that it was very moving. In fact I will probably see it a few more times before it's off the big screen with a few different groups. How on earth can some of you make such judgments on such a broad scale? If you haven't seen it, then you don't know what it is or if it was "inaccurate" or a gore fest as some seem to be fond of calling it, you only know what you have heard second hand and if memory serves me correctly the people who have been "reporting" on it are the very same people who had everyone up in arms when un-truths were "reported" about this candidate or the other. So, what I would like to know, how did these people suddenly become credible and when did people gain the right to judge others?

[Enraged_Ape]

17. Let's see what the box office is in three weeks

There is no way that those who aren't some sort of psycho masochists would sit through this shyte a second time. I predict that this POS will dwindle to no attendance within 21 days. If I want to see 2 hours of torture again, I'll rent "Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS". At least there's some bare breasts (and some nice ones) to go with my revulsion.

[eissa]

18. I would like to thank

all those people who protested this film, created the controversy surrounding it, and gave me millions of dollars worth of free publicity. God bless you.

Love,
Mel (happily on my way to the bank)

[Mandate My Ass]

19. I won't spend even one thin dime

on Mel's snuff flick. I have no time for some ex-cokehead misogynist homophobic womanizer rewriting history to suit his own agenda. He's a very angry person and this film is nothing but an indictment of those people for what they supposedly did to his savior.

I'm glad Mel found Jesus as an acceptable substitute for heavy duty drugs but it seems to me he's still trippin.