'PASSION' FOR EPIC HIGHER THAN REPORTED EXTRA $27.8 MILLION EARNED.Byline: Greg GREG Great Egg Harbor National Scenic and Recreational River (US National Park Service) Hernandez Staff Writer Sunday Sunday: see Sabbath; week. turned out to be far more divine than Newmarket Newmarket, town (1991 pop. 15,861), Suffolk, E England. It has been a horse-racing center since early in the 17th cent. There are four principal races: the One Thousand Guineas, the Two Thousand Guineas, the Cambridgeshire, and the Cesarewitch. Films had projected as the box office sensation ``The Passion of the Christ'' grossed $27.8 million on that day alone, $7.7 million more than was originally estimated by the independent distributor. Aided by media hype hype 1 Slang n. 1. Excessive publicity and the ensuing commotion: the hype surrounding the murder trial. 2. and religious interest, the controversial film about the final hours of the life of Jesus Christ Jesus Christ: see Jesus. Jesus Christ 40 days after Resurrection, ascended into heaven. [N.T.: Acts 1:1–11] See : Ascension Jesus Christ kind to the poor, forgiving to the sinful. [N.T. had a weekend total of $83.8 million, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. final numbers released Monday Monday: see week. . ``It's the greatest box office story ever told,'' said Brandon Gray, editor of BoxOfficeMojo.com. ``Sunday was always the big question mark. Would Christians go to see this film in addition to, or instead of, going to church? It looks like they did.'' ``Passion'' has grossed $125.1 million to date, giving it the best five- day opening ever for a film with a Wednesday opening. The previous record-holder had been ``The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,'' with $124.1 million. Newmarket had released a conservative five-day box office estimate of $117.5 million for the Mel Gibson-directed film, which has been at the center of a storm of controversy. But attendance from Saturday night to Sunday - typically the slowest night of the weekend - dropped by only 15.8 percent. Box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co., said ``Passion'' is making movie industry history in ways that may not even be realized yet. ``It ranks up there with the surprise of 'The Blair Witch Project' and the surprise of 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding,''' Dergarabedian said. ``There are these milestone events in box office history that everyone points to as either a turning point, a new lesson learned or a whole new paradigm New Paradigm In the investing world, a totally new way of doing things that has a huge effect on business. Notes: The word "paradigm" is defined as a pattern or model, and it has been used in science to refer to a theoretical framework. for what is possible. Maybe this is the biggest surprise of all, this movie.'' Some Jewish people and others have lambasted the film for what they view as anti-Semitic content, while movie critics have been widely divided in their opinions on the film. But some churches have bought out entire theaters so that members of their congregations can watch the film together. Newmarket had stepped in to distribute and market ``Passion,'' which was self-financed by Gibson - at a cost of about $30 million - without a contract with any major studio. Also co-written by Gibson, ``Passion'' opened on more than 4,000 screens, with hundreds of additional theaters added just in the past week to keep up with the advance demand with the intensely violent R-rated film. ``Passion'' took just one day to become the highest-grossing Christian- themed movie in the past several decades, surpassing the $25.6 million earned by former champ ``Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie'' during its entire run. Greg Hernandez, (818) 713-3758 greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com |
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