religion is such a joke in these new times

How about trying to attack a good movie like Zeitgeist, or are you going to cling to your dogma?

It would be more fair to compare the opening weekend take per theater. For "Fireproof," the opening weekend per theater was $8,148 and for "Religulous," it was $6,792, so they're not that far apart.

There are a couple reasons, though, that it is not really fair to compare these movies. First, they are very different genres. "Fireproof" is a drama whose main focus is actually on a love story. "Religulous" is a documentary, which typically have far lower revenues than fictional movies. Second, when you consider that Christians outnumber atheists in this country by about 20 to 1, the fact that "Religulous" made 83% of what "Fireproof" made per theater is not so funny.

To ex-preacher. It is probably a good thing that you are no longer a preacher. It is understandable that atheists will attend Mahers movie as his thinking is so obtruse and the nutcases have no other outlet to vent their hostilities unless you join San Franciscans,skin heads and code pink. Maybe thew ACLU will help fund the movie as they are well known for stupidity.

The bottom line is that when religion is made fun of or can be made to look stupid in the West, there generally is an audience. After all we must look sophisticated in these "new" times. This is hardly new and, of course, Maher's arguments are hardly new.
I've heard one of his arguments against the 10 commandments. He thinks there should have been one against rape. I saw this on one of his shows and could not believe his obtuseness. If you follow the "big ten" you won't rape. Hello!
The ads for this new masterpiece of deep thinking called Religulous showed a couple of his "arguments". I could not believe he actually thought that they were intelligent arguments. The joke seems to be on him. Maybe he should let go of some of his dogma, because he sure can't seem to make points intellectually.

The sad part is the he and others keep coming up with these rehashed arguments (most of which are sophomoric) and act as if they really have just discovered something "new". It's just tiresome and boring.

I guess there really is nothing new under the sun.

Bill Maher is presenting a great documentary for those of us who can see and accept people as they are.
"Religulous" is a satirical doumentary based on lear live and the truths some people want to live by.
If you chose to live by words written by ancient people that were used to control people then and now that is your business. Personally I would rather believe in nature as a real force.
If your God's can't take satire they are a pretty weak lot.
Kilty (kiltyone@dslextreme.com)

When comparing theater earnings, please also compare advertising budgets. Documentary or not, I have seen significantly more commercials for "Religulous" than for "Fireproof".
This does not include the amount of time that Maher has spent self promoting on his own show and on the late night talk shows. Maher has a ready made fan base/audience who have an appreciation of his humor turned diatribe. Fireproof has spread the news by way of churches and e-bursts.

Fireproof is not just a love story it is about the fundamentals of marriage and divorce and why it is so important to make your marriage work you know like the Bible says to!!!

Religulous had a huge advantage over Fireproof: credibility of the producer AND significant media attention. Didn't work. Here's the real message: People don't care what Bill Maher has to see on this.

ex-preacher suggests since "Fireproof" is a drama and "Religulous" is a documentary, and Christians significantly outnumber atheists, "Religulous" has actually done quite well in comparison. What he fails to note is the great success of Michael Moore's documentaries, which certainly aren't pitched to the Christian Right, the failure of most of the sorry bunch of "religious" films that came out after "The Passion," and the fact that as a popular comic and television host, a Bill Maher film should blow a church film out of the water.

Instead of "Fireproof," I think the Ben Stein documentary "Expelled" may be the best comparison to "Religulous." "Expelled" received a huge amount of church promotion and free publicity in the media. It was the #1 most discussed topic on blogs in the week before it opened. The producers are now advertising the DVD with the slogan: "Thank you America for making 'Expelled' the #1 documentary of 2008."

"Expelled" did quite well for a documentary, earning $5.6 million off of 1,052 screens in its first 12 days. So, how does "Religulous" compare? It has made $6.7 million in its first 12 days on 568 screens. Over its entire 39 day theater run, "Expelled" made $7.7 million. By this weekend, "Religulous" will almost certainly surpass $8 million and replace "Expelled" as the #1 documentary of 2008.

Congradulations Mc Cain for your win.

Obama should have seen to his grandmothers poverty first (years ago) before he tried to clean up Americas back yard.

Why is his grandmother still living in such abject poverty if Obama is the hero he makes out to be?

It would have taken just a few of his American dollars to help her build a better shack.
OBAMA SHAME ON YOU.

I loved the movie Fireproof and I am not married, It reminded me how much God loves me and everyone else. The trailer for Religuious that I saw was so not in the slightest funny or left me with a desire to watch it.

Sure enough, "Religulous" surpassed "Expelled" last week to become the #1 documentary of 2008, even though it was only on half as many screens. As of today, "Religulous" has earned $9.2 million, making it the #9 documentary (out of 576) since 1982. It has a good shot at displacing "Super Size Me" and "Winged Migration" to become the #7 all-time documentary by this weekend.

"Fireproof" continues to do well, earning $20.8 million so far. Both movies have been highly profitable. One religious dramatic movie that has not well is the biopic "Billy: The Early Years of Billy Graham." After 2 weekends in 286 theaters (virtually all of them in the South) has earned an anemic $320K. I'm not sure why "Fireproof" has performed so much better. Perhaps religious movies that are not directly based on Bible story need a little nonreligious action - firefighting, football - to gain popularity. BY non-biblical,

Show Religious to Christians in India, China, North korea, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Eritrea, Vietnam, and Kenya who are being tortured and killed for their faith in Jesus Christ. Bill Mahr should film the sequal in Iran next time if he has any guts at all.

Fireproof made 40 times what it cost to produce. 20 million.

What I don't understand is why people are so certain in their religious beliefs yet they cannot stomach a little criticism. Bill Maher isn't out to change your mind he's just telling a different side of the story. Enlightened people are able to consider all sides of a problem instead of simply being offended by the mere possibility of an alternative point of view. I've never understood why Jesus, who was a proponent of love, understanding and forgiveness seems to attract those most interested in hate, prejudice and bigotry.