c. 2006 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) You don’t need a Harvard symbologist to decode this one.

With its built-in advantage of a best-seller source novel _ and the dependable Ron Howard directing fan favorite Tom Hanks _ “The Da Vinci Code” translated fame into box-office success on its first weekend in release.

Its estimated Friday-through-Sunday (May 19-21) gross was $77 million, according to Exhibitor Relations, more than the rest of the Top 10 movies combined.

Those numbers still couldn’t nudge the film into the $100 million club, however, the preserve of genuine blockbusters like the “Harry Potter” films. Those looking for the year’s biggest hit probably won’t find it here.

Still, “it’s the biggest opening of the year so far,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, a box-office analysis firm. “And $77 million only tells part of the story; the film also did $147 million overseas, which shows you the worldwide fervor about this picture. It’s really a global phenomenon.”

If viewers wanted to decipher a real puzzle, they only had to look at the various and contradictory reactions leading up to the film’s release _ and the early predictions for its opening reception.

Some moviegoers had called for a boycott of the film on religious grounds, while others announced they would go simply to break the boycott; a third faction urged fans to see the family-friendly “Over the Hedge” instead. Indeed, “Over the Hedge” drew $37.2 million for second place.

The arguments extended everywhere. Although online oddsmaker PinnacleSports.com accurately predicted the film would gross less than $85 million, another site just as confidently declared the film would make just over $115 million.

“That sort of predicting, it’s totally a non-science,” Dergarabedian said. “Sometimes these guys are right, just like the horoscope in the paper is right, and it’s fun to do, but I think it’s a kind of a dangerous game, actually, because it sets these unrealistic benchmarks for the studios.”

So are the executives at Sony saying a prayer of thanks for these “Da Vinci” numbers?

“I would think they’d be very happy,” Dergarabedian said. “The strategy of keeping the film under wraps and letting the controversy build only seemed to raise awareness to a fever pitch. … If anything, the protests only enhanced the box office. Any time there’s a protest, people want to see the movie themselves, to make up their own minds. All of it just helped their marketing.”

In the end, that marketing helped place “The Da Vinci Code” well ahead of the premieres of other summer movies like “Mission Impossible III” and “Poseidon,” as well as the initial revenues for other, previously picketed religious films such as “Dogma” (which made $8 million during its 1999 opening) or “The Last Temptation of Christ” (which managed only $401,000 in the first few days of its initial, limited 1988 release).

It still, however, stands behind “The Passion of the Christ,” which made a solid $84 million during its first weekend run.

And “Da Vinci” will seem like less of a miracle as the summer goes on. Although it’s the biggest opening of the year, the real blockbuster season has only begun _ and films like “Superman Returns” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” are still to come.

“Breaking the `Spider-Man’ (weekend) record of $115 million will be a pretty tall order,” Dergarabedian said. “But `Da Vinci’ proved that people are pumped and ready to go to the movies again.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations:

1. “The Da Vinci Code,” $77 million.

2. “Over the Hedge,” $37.2 million.

3. “Mission: Impossible III,” $11 million.

4. “Poseidon,” $9.2 million.

5. “RV,” $5.1 million.

6. “See No Evil,” $4.4 million.

7. “Just My Luck,” $3.4 million.

8. “An American Haunting,” $1.7 million.

9. “United 93,” $1.4 million.

10. “Akeelah and the Bee,” $1 million.

(Stephen Whitty writes for The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J.)

KRE/PH END WHITTY