LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Filmmaker Mel Gibson fed the hungry multitudes at the North American box office as his biblical epic ?The Passion of the Christ? smashed past the $200 million sales mark after just two weeks.
According to estimates issued Sunday, the movie has sold $212 million worth of tickets since its Feb. 25 release (including $3 million in private group sales the prior two days), placing it in the same blockbuster league as recent Oscar-winner ?The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.?
The total includes estimated sales of $51.4 million for the current Friday-to-Sunday period, a dip of just 39 percent from, the previous weekend. Most big films usually lose about half their business in the second weekend.
While controversy about its violent portrayal of the last 12 hours of Christ?s life may have boosted initial awareness, ?incredible word-of-mouth? and repeat business were driving its momentum, said Bob Berney, president of the film?s North American distributor, Newmarket Films.
?I think this is an event or phenomenon, and people are checking it out across the board,? he said in a teleconference.
Anecdotal reports indicated the film was playing extremely broadly geographically and across all age groups, with ?very, very strong Latino and African-American? support, said Berney.
He added that it was ?fairly obvious? the movie would push past $300 million. At the same stage, ?The Return of the King,? also a Wednesday opener, had earned $222 million. If ?Passion? follows the same trajectory, it could test the $350 million mark. Not bad for a movie that reportedly cost Gibson about $30 million of his own money.
Gibson, who directed and co-wrote the movie, was ?obviously delighted? with its performance, said Bruce Davey, who produced the film with Gibson through their Icon Prods. banner.
Some rival studios said the $51.4 million estimate could be a little conservative, and the number could be higher when final data are released on Monday. Such was the case last week, when the film?s weekend sales turned out to be $83.9 million, about $7.7 million above the estimate. The big variable is Sunday business and the extent to which people?s movie-going decisions may be influenced by their church activities, industry insiders said.
?Sunday?s a big day, so we?re trying to make a fairly educated guess, but we always could be surprised,? Berney said.
Elsewhere at the box office, the Warner Bros. comedy ?Starsky & Hutch,? starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson as the cops from the 1970s TV show, opened at No. 2 with surprisingly strong sales of $29.1 million. Walt Disney Pictures? equine drama ?Hidalgo,? starring ?Lord of the Rings? alumnus Viggo Mortensen as a 19th century horseman, opened at No. 3 with a solid $19.6 million, also exceeding expectations. Both films hope to capitalize on the upcoming spring break.
Oscar glory propelled two films back into the top 10. Boosted by its clean sweep of 11 awards, director Peter Jackson?s ?The Return of the King? jumped four places to No. 7 with $3.2 million. The total for New Line Cinema?s hobbit saga now stands at $368.4 million.
Newmarket?s serial-killer drama ?Monster,? for which Charlize Theron won the best actress Oscar, rose three places to No. 10 with $2.3 million. Its total rose to $30.1 million.
Newmarket is a unit of closely held Newmarket Capital Group. Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc . Walt Disney Pictures is a unit of Walt Disney Co .
Overall sales fell from last week, but were considerably higher than this time a year ago, according to box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. The top 12 films grossed $131.5 million, down six percent from last weekend, and up 39 percent from last year, when Steve Martin?s ?Bringing Down the House? opened at No. 1 with $31.1 million.
