March 23rd, 2004

Bigger Than Jesus

Well folks, it finally happened. The well-received remake of George Romero's classic Dawn Of The Dead grossed 26.7 this weekend, outgrossing the juggernaut that is The Passion Of The Christ. But Jesus is still going strong - taking in 19.4 over the weekend, the film should pass the 300 million mark this week. A total gross of 350-400 million seems quite likely - this should make Mel Gibson pretty happy, as it was reported a few weeks ago by The Wall Street Journal that when it's all said and done - including home video release and merchandising - Mel Gibson will be making at least 400 million dollars off his dream movie.

In third place was the new thriller Taking Lives. Also opening to decent reviews, the film grossed 11.4 over the weekend and should come out with a solid overally gross. Starsky and Hutch took in another 10.3 million while Secret Window took a pretty big dip with 9.2 million for the weekend. Hidalgo also tacked on another 8.4 million to its gross.

The best reviewed film of the year so far, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind opened with a strong 8.1 million. It may not seem like much, but the film is only at 1,353 theaters (compared to around 3000 for most of the major releases). Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London raked in another 6 million, while 50 First Dates and Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen rounded out the weekend with 4.1 and 1.5 million, respectively.

Can a talking dog outgross Jesus and zombies next weekend? Stay tuned, DVD fans!

-Zach B.