While hard boxoffice numbers for "Passion" were not available Wednesday, Rob Schwartz, senior vp marketing and distribution at Newmarket Films, said in an interview: "It's difficult to know exactly where we're going to end up, but based on the limited information we have now, we're probably looking at somewhere in the high teens for the day. It could end up at $15 million, or it may be $20 million, or anywhere in between. The final number won't be known until Thursday morning."
With a $15 million-$20 million opening day, the five-day total through Sunday for "Passion" should breeze past $60 million -- an impressive debut in anybody's book but especially for a film that was originally considered a labor of love and destined for art house fare.
If the Wednesday estimates play out, that would put "Passion" in some impressive company -- New Line Cinema's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" ($18.2 million), 20th Century Fox's "Independence Day" ($17.4 million, excluding Tuesday night previews) and Sony's "Men in Black" ($14 million, excluding Tuesday night previews). In regards to the biggest Wednesday debuts of all time, "Passion" would rank between the sixth and 10th largest of all time, depending on where the final numbers end up."
Posted by scott at February 26, 2004 08:48 AM | TrackBack