DaVinciCode: blockbuster...worldwide...

From Hollywood via Drudge : (an excerpt)

5th Update: *Box Office Mojo is calling Da Vinci Code's Friday opening the 12th best opening day gross on its all-time box office list, 32nd best single day gross (that ranking should move higher after Saturday's take is calculated).*

4th Update: *I've learned Da Vinci Code "earned just under $30 million" for Friday U.S. box office. That number smashes Sony estimates for the pic's domestic gross. Foreign box office reports continue to soar. Meanwhile, I'm told rival studios are predicting Da Vinci Code's domestic weekend take will approach $80 million. On Saturday morning, Box Office Mojo reported Friday's DVC haul at $29.5 mil. Meanwhile, reports say the Rev. Robert A. Schuller, pastor of Southern California's Crystal Cathedral and host of TV's weekly Hour of Power program, went to a screening and is publicly recommending DVC. "As long as people talk about The Da Vinci Code, they'll discover the divinity code of who Jesus Christ is," Schuller told reporters. The No. 2 movie, Dreamworks/ Paramount's Over the Hedge, took in $10.9 mil domestically Friday. That's below Dreamworks' previous cartoon hit, Madagascar.*

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."*

UPDATE: *Predominantly Catholic countries like Italy and Mexico close to breaking box office records. In Italy, Da Vinci Code seeing huge grosses, and, based on an exit poll there, 75 percent thumbs up, 15 percent neutral, and 10 percent not liking.*

I'm told Sony/Imagine's The Da Vinci Code did "huge business" in Australia and New Zealand today (remember, they're 24 hours ahead), "pretty much smash openings" across the board in every foreign territory it opened so far, "incredibly well" in parts of Europe except France, where there was a major soccer match on Day #1 but the box office bounced back on Day #2. Britain's Sky News has been reporting good reaction from people coming out of screenings there. Same thing happened around the U.S.: for instance, TV news reports in Portland, Ore, and Miami Beach, Fla., are featuring quickie interviews with just-out-of-screening moviegoers and they're loving it. (Do film critics matter any more?) Early reports say the matinees out of New York City were "giant-sized." I've learned that Sony execs are "very happy."

As for the rotten reviews, I hear the Sony suits are taking the attitude that the critics are out of touch with the public and counting on Da Vinci Code to be reviewer-proof. After all, this movie is based on a book that sold 40+ million copies; flick qualifies for the "phenomenon" category, good or bad.

Wrap...