"Passion" is *86th* on the all-time box office list

[Paragon]

Don't believe the hype -- here are the real figures, adjusted for inflation:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted

1. Gone With the Wind
2. Star Wars
3. The Sound of Music
...
86. The Passion of the Christ

...which puts it behind such gems as The Phantom Menace, Independence Day, Smokey and the Bandit, Twister, Attack of the Clones, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Ghost.

[ironflange]

1. Irony alert!

What's No. 85? Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

That's cute!

[Az]

2. I am not one to take things as signs

but this is oh so tempting.

[strategery blunder]

3. Behind Airport and Home Alone

wow

[AZCat]

47. But is it... Beyond Thunderdome?

Hahahahahahaaaaaaa!


Sometimes I crack myself up... :)

[ultramega]

4. Janet Jackson vs. Mel Gibson

Who is more shrewd?

They both pissed people off (very successfully) for mucho free publicity.

[newyawker99]

36. Hi ultramega!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Sulldogg]

5. What are you gonna do ...

When it hits $400M, say it's only the 38th most popular movie of all time?

Seriously, I think you are dilluting yourself if you think making $300M in 30 days is not a sign of a tremendously popular movie. You want to put it in perspective, there have been well over 10,000 movies released, and Passin has made more than 99% of them.

[shekina]

6. this guy's right dude

Paragon, you seem to be an alright guy from what I've seen but this topic is just bullshit.


More power to Mel. I loved his movie.

[Sulldogg]

7. Did you mean to reply to me?

[shekina]

8. oops

Nope, I meant to reply to the starter of this thread. Although I have seen ur posts and I think ur an ok guy too.


Sorry bout that

[Paragon]

10. Thanks.

Very Christian of you.

[shekina]

12. Didn't say anything about you

Just said that this topic was bull, that's all.

[Trajan]

15. It didnt pass the Holy Movie Gross Sniff Test ????

aw .....

IF God made a movie, would it win an Oscar ? ....

[Paragon]

9. Actually, if "Passin" gets to $400 million...

...it'll be 39th on the list, unless there's a big rerelease of Goldfinger. :silly:

What are YOU gonna do when Spider-Man 2 swings past Christ this summer...:cry:?

[shekina]

11. ur still downplaying this

how many film gross $300 million? No, better question. How many religious films gross $300 million? Not alot. This movie is a cultural phenomenon and it's great art. And I don't care how Spiderman does at the box office, Spiderman 2 isn't going to hold the signifigance that Passion does for me. The money's nice, but the meaning's why I love The Passion.


I know you weren't replying to me, but I thought I'd answer you anyway.

[Cronus Protagonist]

20. I think the movie's a load of santorum

Judging by the trailers - Mel's not getting any of my money for that crap. Mind you, I don't go to any slasher movies, come to think of it.



http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13z
http://brainbuttons.com/images/524.gi

[Sulldogg]

13. I'm not the one with unrealistic interpretations

This movie is doing light years better than was predicted, and has proven itself to be a very very popular movie. And whether another movie is popular or not does not affect this one's popularity.

You talk like being one of the top 100 grossing movies of all time is not an accomplishment. At the very least, these represent the top 1% of movies released from hollywood. If you are too syubborn to see that, then it's a lost cause.

[Paragon]

17. To answer you both:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic.htm

This non-adjusted list (which you'll hear quoted most in the media, and doesn't at all represent how many people have seen it vs. older films) has Passion at 13th...which is a bit of a far cry from 86th -- not to mention that people weren't buying out entire screenings of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

I'm not denying Passion's success - merely putting it in context, which is kryptonite to most people lauding Mel's flick as (ahem) The Second Coming.

And if you think a "Christian" movie doing big box office is unique, you may have overlooked these from the adjusted list:

5. The Ten Commandments
13. Ben-Hur
42. The Robe

...and, just for fun, those with Christian imagery:

9. The Exorcist
21. The Godfather
46. The Bells of St. Mary's
47. The Return of the King
85. Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade
87. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
88. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
96. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
110. Armageddon

...and last, but not least:
111. Three Men and a Baby :silly:

[TheWatcher]

31. Actually, Box Offiice Gross Doesn't Have Anything To Do With It

Star Wars Episodes I & II both had Huge Box Office Numbers, and both were laughable films with very wooden acting, too much reliance on CGI and Special Effects instead of storytelling, and a disgrace to their respectful frnachise and an insult to their fans.

Just because a movie has Big Box Office Numbers, does not mean it's a good movie.

[Finch]

32. lol...

... look a the shinning that did very poorly at cinemas or office space (great film) not a blip in cinemas or on video (real shame)...

[w4rma]

16. I tend to agree with you Sulldogg. The movie is still in theaters. (nt)

[Sulldogg]

14. Unrelated

but my Blue Devils just out lasted you guys tonight, well played.

[greyl]

18. Your title is hype.

DOMESTIC GROSSES
Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation* is how it is put.
(there's also a footnote: "Most pre-1980 pictures achieved their totals through multiple releases, especially Disney animated features which made much of their totals in the past few decades belying their original release dates in terms of adjustment. For example, Snow White has made $118,328,683 of its unadjusted $184,925,486 total since 1983."


I haven't seen it, don't believe in a white jesus, and am looking forward to the Passion of C Southpark episode this wednesday. :)

[Paragon]

19. Oh, sorry.

When I can fit all that in the subject line, I'll repost it.

:eyes:

[elperromagico]

21. I prefer listing them with adjustments for inflation,

as this site has done, because although Gone With The Wind hasn't made nearly as much 2004 dollars as The Passion, tickets were a lot cheaper back then, and it could be argued that far more people went to see Gone With The Wind than have gone to see The Passion. After all, theater attendance was far higher in those days. Moviegoing was a weekly event for some people. Television has changed that.

[jmowreader]

22. And, once again, no one bought out a GWTW screening

I wonder how it will do on DVD. This will show another important thing about the film--its legs.

You hear about billions of people seeing the movie. You don't hear much about people seeing it seventeen or eighteen times. I don't think you will; this is a rough movie to sit through even if you're not a Christian.

[Finch]

23. Actually from what i hear some people have seen if a few times...

... However this film is not really entertainment, so you cant view its success as how many people go and see it again and again... its a film that tries to articulate a message and convey the reality of the shear horror of what Jesus suffered and the notion that we (and this is humanity) did this to him... that is the concept that is being articulating yes in a very bloody slightly biased way... but i really don't think you can judge this film based on how many people go and see it again and again... its just not that kind of movie...

[Finch]

24. Its been out of for less than a mounth....

... most are predicting it will out sell titanic or come dame close... but for it to already be 86th so soon after being released is very impressive... it will climb and reach very higly... and some one made another good point, since when did a religious film do this well?, come to think of it since when did a film in Aramaic and Latin do this well?!... its an amazing success and there are many people in Hollywood who are very pissed off by this sucess...

[Paragon]

26. *sigh*

Its been out of for less than a mounth....

Release date was February 25, 2004. It's been "out of" more than "a mounth".

most are predicting it will out sell titanic or come dame close

Titanic made $600 million domestically...in 1997. It will come nowhere near "dame close".

since when did a religious film do this well?

See post #17.

come to think of it since when did a film in Aramaic and Latin do this well?!

Too dumb a question to answer.

By the way, DU comes equipped with a spell checker. Capitalization, sentence structure, and general intelligence are also appreciated.

[Finch]

27. My argument still stands…

Since when did a film with subtitles and a religious theme do so well? This thread is about it being a success or not, not the quality of the film, however if you want my opinion…

The torture and murder of the physical Christ of history was indeed ghastly. In one sense the Mel Gibson interpretion of the Gospels liberated Christ from the traditional soft-hued portrayals of stained-glass windows, and underlined that his trial and crucifixion were bloody and painful in the extreme.

To that extent, the film has peformed a necessary service in presenting a more realistic version of those historical events.

… now back to the original point of this thread is the Passion making a lot of money? Well it’s on course to easily make $400 million and that has blasted all the competition out of the water, including Jonny Depp’s latest film (which has so far made $19 million) and Starsky and Hutch so while it is not going to be the biggest film of all time it will be one of the biggest and part of the reason it is not making killings on the scale of Titanic or even Independence Day is that people don’t go and see it again and again because it is not that kind of movie… it is not their for entrainment it is their to bring a very dusty, usually over sanitised story to life to make it “real” for the viewer and to dispel the fairy tale vision of Jesus and the New Testaments… and as I said before $400 million for a film in Aramaic and Latin!!! That’s got to impress you… just a little bit?...

PS sorry if my last post was a bit rushed but you don’t need to beat up on me…

[LeahMira]

38. Say what???

To that extent, the film has peformed a necessary service in presenting a more realistic version of those historical events.

Exactly what is this necessary service? Why is it necessary?

What difference does it make if someone now appreciates how bloody and painful crucifixions are? Does the average person really need that information?

Maybe someone ought to make a movie about Mengele and show details of his "medical experiments" so we could all appreciate just how painful dissection without anesthesia really is. You think?

Sheesh!

:eyes:

[xchrom]

25. mel's not getting my money.

and the passion is not about s&m, mel.

[Finch]

28. No its not....

... but Jesus was effectively maimed before he was crucified... and the passion as i have said finally disabuses us of the notion of the "story book" jesus... and that is a good thing...

[Paragon]

29. Yeah, it really is

I was raised Catholic -- just by the nature of the story, there's enough violence inherent in the tamest Passion Play to successfully communicate Jesus' suffering. If having it recreated for two hours straight to somehow make you a better Christian isn't masochistic, then I don't want to know what is.

Pilate condemned many men to suffer and die on Golgotha. What made Jesus "The Christ" are his revolutionary teachings and his rise from the dead three days later -- neither of which are covered very heavily in Mel's movie.

[Finch]

30. You make some valid pionts...

... however i did not say that going to see the passion made you a better Christian what i implied was that a persons understanding of the nature of Christs' sacrifice would be deepened by seeing this (yeah) very shockingly violent film... i was not saying that a person is a better Christian for going to see this film just that it would deepen many peoples understanding of Christ's sacrifice and bring it into "sharp relife"... and you cannot deny that what is done to Christ is almost certainly very similar to what occurred to him prior to his execution... however i agree Mel is too soft on Pilot in my view the man from records of the time was a nasty and violent piece of work, however in the case of Jesus who knows what his response was?... and also you are correct to point out the sad lack of perspective in the film, i think Mel assumes too much of his audience but it would only require a really brief introduction at the beginning of the film to place it in context as the the resurrection this is nodded to at the end, however we should not forget that traditionally passion plays where designed to convey the agony of Christs suffering for out sins which its self was only a prelude as between his death and resurrection he descended into hell for three days and nights for out sins (if you chose to believe most Christan teaching)...

[xchrom]

34. there is no movie or passion play

that can deepen my experience of the christ.
please speak for your self regarding this.
to see reeactments like this has always trivialized christ's message to me. and bolsters notions that it boils down to historical fact. that it might be historical fact isn't the message.

[BonjourUSA]

40. "Mad Max" into a bloody Christian sauce

[Sulldogg]

33. Well, you are wrong

BOth his teachings and his resurrection are covered in the movie.

[Zynx]

35. It's still a great deal of money and its not done yet.

I know you are trying to refute right-wingers, but do it smartly.

[rinsd]

37. Interesting....

I always hate it when they talk about movies and how large their gross is when they're charging twice the amount that yesteryear blockbusters got.

That said, the movie has only been out a month of so. Time will have to tell even though it seem most of the audience has seen it(down 35% this weekend). It's final figures depends on repeat viewing as that is what made the top flicks(in terms of dollars). Though I can't imagine how many times one can see a graphic depiction of the crucification.

[Sulldogg]

41. The one thing I keep looking at

Is look at the Return of The King's 375M run.


Weekend RoTK Passion
1 73M 84M
2 51M 53M
3 28M 32M
4 14M 19M
5 10M 13M


I'll admit the Tolkien movies probably get more return viewers, but something has to be said for the Passion bringing in more audiences consistently for the first 5 weeks.

[jor_mama]

42. Some of you may forget what's coming in two weeks, too

Easter is coming. And Good Friday is really what this movie depicts. I'd be interested to see what RoTK did in the 6th through 10th weeks, and I bet Passion outdoes it. I've found this debate fairly interesting.

Many churches are also gearing series' of sermons leading up to the grand finale on April 12. It won't be back to Week 1 totals, but don't bet against this movie taking off to 2nd or 3rd week totals again around Good Friday/Easter.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

39. NO!!!

this can't be true! I just invested my life savings in Mel Gibson's Magical Jesus Nail Pendants! Now you're telling me that there's no significance?

I'm ruined.

[Rabid]

43. Not bad numbers

for a totally fictional movie about "history".

I wonder what the highest rated Mythology Movie was before this? Clash of the Titans?

[usscole]

44. You would have to pay me to see this movie

[nolabels]

45. I paid to see a few of above and below the #86

That one "Smokey and the Bandit" was good and Sally Field was HOT


(snip)
To assist him with his challenge, the Bandit enlists help from his friend Cledus 'Snowman' Snow (Jerry Reed, who also sung the film's opening song "East Bound and Down", as well as the songs "Bandit" and "The Legend"). Snowman is given the duty of driving the 18-wheeler loaded with beer, while the Bandit buys a black Trans Am so that he can distract any law enforcement officers from finding it. After getting to Texarkana, loading the beer and starting back, the Bandit is forced to stop by a roadside bride in distress named Carrie (Sally Field), whom he agrees to give a ride. She was being pursued by Texarkana's sheriff, Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason, 1916-1987), after having second thoughts about marrying his dimwitted son, Junior (Mike Henry, who before becoming an actor played professional football with the Pittsburgh Steelers and L.A. Rams). With Citizen's Band (CB) radios blaring, the Bandit becomes the unwitting quarry of Sheriff Justice, who chases him across the southern U.S. along with other law enforcement officers.

The film was inspired in large part by Americans' overwhelming disapproval of the lowering of national highway speed limits to 55 mph as mandated in 1973 by Pres. Nixon to conserve fuel. In response, Americans started using CB radios in cars and trucks en masse to alert one another to the presence of law enforcement officers (referred to as "smokey's" by CB radio users) looking for speeders. With its wild chase scenes, endless humor (much of it slapstick) and believable acting, most viewers to this day are kept fully engaged and laughing throughout the film's 96 minutes. Memorable scenes include the Burdettes, the Bandit meeting Carrie, Sheriff Justice's introduction, Carrie changing clothes, Sheriff Justice and Sheriff Branford (George Reynolds), the restaurant, the Japanese-American truck driver, Sheriff Justice's car top and the final scenes. Were it not for Jackie Gleason's very memorable performance as Sheriff Justice, it is doubtful that "Smokey and the Bandit" would have achieved success. The film re-ignited Sally Field's big screen career who went to earn two Oscars for Best Actress for her roles in "Norma Rae" (1979) and "Places in the Heart" (1984). Overall, I rate "Smokey and the Bandit" with 5 out of 5 stars. Sadly, two sequels made in 1980 and 1983 were very poor by comparison (especially the one in 1983, which Burt Reynolds and Sally Field wisely did not appear).
(snip)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0783229356/103-8054040-4074218?v=glance#product-details

[Oddman]

46. I think Mel Gibson should make

"The Passion of the Pedophile Priest" Let's see how many people will go see that? A miracle occurred whilst I watched that movie, I went out an confessed my sins . . . hallelujah!!!!!

[Sulldogg]

48. tolerance

at its finest

[Enraged_Ape]

49. Mel's torture porn is now #3 at the box office, behind Scooby-Doo

That's right. Scooby fuckin' Doo.

And I can't wait to see what happens when Hellboy is released this Friday. I find it highly ironic that something called Hellboy is going to kick the Jesus movie's ass further down the B.O. list for the remaining months until Spiderman 2 is released.

The big, big movies today have "rewatchability". People can go see Spiderman or X-Men 2 or the Lord of the Rings movies again and again and again. They can play the video games and be FURTHER inspired to watch them yet again. But the only person who will want to re-watch a gentle, kind man being tortured horribly for two hours is Gibson himself, and whatever other sick fucks out there that get into that.

[Sulldogg]

50. Wow

A new release attracts more viewers than one that has been out 30+ days. It is clearly a far more popular movie.

What I don't understand is, do you not realize how pathetic this looks on you. If you disagree with Gibson's movie, say so. If you have issues with Gibson, say so. But you are lying to yourself if you truly believe this movie isn't popular or isn't or won't do well in the theaters and DVD sales.