TOP 10: Mel's PASSION is still number one

By: Patrick Sauriol
Date: Sunday, March 07, 2004

It's going to be a March that Hollywood will remember.

In its second weekend of release, Mel Gibson's THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST netted over $50 million dollars and pushed its total past $200 M. Opening this weekend, Warner Bros. made $29 M from its movie remake of the classic 70's cop show STARSKY & HUTCH while Buena Vista's HIDALGO came close to taking in $20 M. Combined, the top three films earned $100 M at the box office, and for what's supposed to be a relatvely lax period at the movies, it's cause for celebration for the movie industry. When all is said and done, THE PASSION will now easily reach $300 M -- and without a spaceship, superhero or special effect in it.

THE RETURN OF THE KING came back into the top ten, undoubtedly as a result of the 11 Oscars the picture won at last week's Academy Awards. The DIRTY DANCING sequel hung on to a spot while WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT's stars couldn't help that film fall out of the single digits.

Next week: the return of a kid spy in AGENT CODY BANKS 2, SECRET WINDOW with Johnny Depp and Val Kilmer plays a Secret Service agent in SPARTAN.

Here are the estimated box office receipts of the top ten films from March 5 through to March 7, with their weekend gross and the movie's total domestic gross to date:

1. THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST $51,392,000 $212,034,000
2. STARSKY & HUTCH $29,050,000 $29,050,000
3. HIDALGO $19,600,000 $19,600,000
4. 50 FIRST DATES $7,700,000 $99,411,000
5. TWISTED $5,025,000 $16,382,000
6. CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN $4,000,000 $21,800,000
7. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING $3,175,000 $368,347,000
8. DIRTY DANCING: HAVANA NIGHTS $2,850,000 $10,040,000
9. MIRACLE $2,600,000 $59,900,000
10. MONSTER $2,250,000 $30,080,000


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