JESUS IS MORE THAN ALRIGHT

Thanks to a huge built-in fanbase, controversy, and a genuine love of movie-goers for all things Aramaic, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ crushed all comers at the box office over the weekend, taking in $117.5 million from its Ash Wednesday opening through Sunday. Friday to Sunday, the movie did $76.2 million, the seventh-best three day opening ever. Its five-day numbers were second only to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. This Jesus guy could be big.

The week’s other openings were Ashley Judd thriller Twisted, which debuted at #3 with $9.1 million; Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, which opened in fifth with $5.9 million; and Broken Lizard’s Club Dread, which brought in $3 million and ended at #10.

Here’s the rest of the top 10: #2 50 First Dates ($12.6m); #4 Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen ($6.1m); #6 Miracle ($4.4m); #7 Eurotrip ($4.1m); #8 Welcome to Mooseport ($3.35m); #9 Barbershop 2: Back in Business ($3.1m).