A little controversy didn�t hurt as Mel Gibson�s "The Passion of the Christ" swept the competition last week at the box office. When the dust settled, Passion had pulled in $117.5 million domestically for the first five days of release, placing it firmly in first place. 

The film opened on Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) and pulled in $76.2 million from Friday to Sunday, placing it as the seventh highest three-day opening ever, and second best five day opening right behind this year�s big Oscar winner "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" , which brought in $124.1 million it�s first five days in theatres. 

Passion relegated last week�s number one, �50 First Dates�, to the number 2 spot. The real success of Passion comes when you consider it brought in more money than the rest of the Top 10 combined. 

Third place went to �Twisted�, the new thriller staring Samuel L Jackson, Ashley Judd and Andy Garcia, which pulled in $9.1 million over the weekend. �Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen� came in fourth and the top 5 was rounded out with the debut of the Dirty Dancing prequel "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights".  

Box Office Top 10 (estimated)

1 - "The Passion of the Christ� - $76.2 million
2 - "50 First Dates� - $12.6 million
3 - "Twisted� - $9.1 million
4 - "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen� - $6.1 million
5 - "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights� - $5.9 million
6 - "Miracle� - $4.4 million
7 - "Eurotrip� - $4.1 million
8 - "Welcome to Mooseport� - $3.35 million
9 - "Barbershop 2: Back in Business� - $3.1 million
10 - "Broken Lizard's Club Dread� - $3 million
 

.