Jesus was king at the box office on Friday as The Passion of the Christ continued its winning streak grossing an estimated $22.8M in its third day of release to easily dominate the North American marketplace. Selling more tickets than the rest of the Top 20 combined, Mel Gibson's much-anticipated epic boosted its three-day cume to an unbelievable $64.2M.

Friday grosses climbed a divine 55% from Thursday for the NewMarket Films smash hit. That represents a better Friday increase than other similar megahits bowing midweek. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King witnessed a 28% rise on its first Friday, The Two Towers jumped 42%, and Star Wars Episode I climbed 50%. At its current rate, The Passion of the Christ could find itself with a towering $68-73M over the three-day weekend period and a jaw-dropping $110-115M over its five-day premiere.

The weekend's other new releases opened to much less fanfare. Paramount's Ashley Judd crime thriller Twisted grossed an estimated $2.9M on Friday, its first day. A $8-9M weekend looks likely.

The Lions Gate romance Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights bowed to an estimated $2.2M while Fox Searchlight's comedy Club Dread debuted to an estimated $1.3M. Final weekend tallies should reach around $6M and $4M, respectively.

Among holdovers, Friday-to-Friday declines were 43% for Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, 45% for Eurotrip, 52% for Welcome to Mooseport, and 68% for Against the Ropes.

For a review of The Passion of the Christ visit The Chief Report.

Be sure to check back on Sunday for the complete weekend box office report featuring official studio estimates.

Last Updated: February 28, 2004 at 2:00PM EST

Written by Gitesh Pandya