Saturday, May 20, 2006

4th Update: *I've learned Da Vinci Code earned "just under $30 million" for Friday U.S. box office. That number should smash Sony estimates for the pic's domestic gross. Foreign box office reports continue to soar.*

3rd Update: *First U.S. numbers: I'm told Regal Union Square in Manhattan was virtually sold out Friday, with returns of more than $56,000. Here are more anecdotes I've learned: Da Vinci Code earned 2 million euros ($2.6 million) on its opening night in Italy, nearly double the take of Italy's previous top film, Oscar-winner Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful. Italian news agencies reported record lines at theatres around the country for the film. To see Da Vinci Code at the Toho Cinema Roppongi in Tokyo, Japan, moviegoers have to wait for the Sunday 3 a.m. show, because everything else is sold out. The widest Hollywood release ever in China, the pic is having one of the biggest opening day box office returns for a non-Chinese film. In Taiwan, a typhoon was expected to hit, but changed course at the last minute: the result was a very strong Friday opening.*

2ND UPDATE: *I'm told Friday night U.S. box office "very strong" for Da Vinci Code and early estimates of $60 mil by the studio for the domestic gross "too low."*