In article <20040412095157.17325.00000206@mb-m16.aol.com>,
nmacphe421@aol.com (Nick Macpherson) wrote:
From:
clay.c@nospam.mindspring.com (Melquiades)
I think The Passion is a special case... it wsn't/isn't viewed in the same
light as most movies. People who never go to the movies went to this one.
It
was presented (through a genius marketing strategy) as an us vs. them battle
in the cultural war, and Christians stepped up to the plate to make sure they
won it.
The success of The Passion is similar to the success of Titanic. Most of the
money is coming from repeat viewings. With Titanic it was young girls. With
The Passion it's Christian groups. That's real money, sure, but it also means
in the long run, you're not looking at a film with classic status. Titanic and
The Passion are both relics of their era, like ET in the 80s. The Passion
might become the biggest money maker of all time but it still ain't gonna be as
popular as Gone with the Wind, King Kong, The Wizard of Oz, any number of
movies that've been seen by just about every person on the plane, rather than
obsessives going over and over again.
In terms of total VIERWERSHIP (as opposed to receipts), then Passion
hasn't a hope of touching de Mille's "King of Kindg", or even "The Ten
Commandments".