Back when The Passion of the Christ came out a couple of years ago, there was talk in some quarters about the film’s supposedly global appeal — and some of that talk was a bit exaggerated, considering the film earned only 39.4% of its revenues overseas, definitely at the low end for modern blockbusters. Of 2004’s top 25 movies, only The Bourne Supremacy was even marginally less reliant for its ranking on overseas revenues, at 38.9%.
Catholic blogger and screenwriter Barbara Nicolosi put The Passion at the top of her top ten list for that year because she said she was “going to go with the global audience” — which was a little odd, considering the film ranked #3 for the year in North America (behind Shrek 2 and Spider-Man 2), #5 for the year worldwide (behind Harry Potter 3 and The Incredibles), and #7 for the year overseas (behind Troy and The Day after Tomorrow).
Nicolosi also actively protested the movie version of The Da Vinci Code — so I cannot help but note that The Da Vinci Code has now outgrossed The Passion of the Christ on the global charts.
The information has not been posted here or here yet, but Studio Briefing reports via e-mail that The Da Vinci Code “has now earned $453.2 million overseas and $642 million worldwide” — which means it has made almost twice as much overseas as The Passion did, and it has surpassed the $611.9 million that The Passion earned worldwide two years ago. (It has also surpassed Ice Age: The Meltdown to become the top film of the year worldwide.)
Methinks this indicates the “global audience” is a little more complicated than some people made it out to be.
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