Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ" raked in twice as much money as the rest of the weekend's 12 top-grossing movies combined.

According to Agape Press, the film has already reached blockbuster status, with $117.5 million in ticket sales since it opened.

The movie was No. 1 over the weekend and recouped independent producer-director Gibson's $25 million budget investment many times over.

The popularity of the film has been driven by its Christian message and the surrounding controversy. Ted Baehr of the Christian Film and Television Commission told the Associated Press that "The Passion" could wind up earning $500 million and be a factor in next year's Academy Awards.

Baehr said the film deserves nominations for direction, cinematography and acting for Jim Caviezel, who portrayed Christ, and Hristo Shopov, who portrayed Pontius Pilate.

But Baehr said he doubts Gibson will get Oscar credit for the film.

"I've been talking to a lot of people in the studios who are very angry at Mel," Baehr said.

Oscar or no Oscar, Baehr said Gibson may "walk away with a half-a-billion-dollar film."

Baehr said he sees more spiritual content in films from Hollywood in recent years.

"You've got "The Passion of The Christ," "The Gospel of John," "Luther," and you've go all these films that have positive spiritual values woven into them. So it's quite an incredible change," he said.

But Baehr expressed some concerns about "The Passion," saying it may bewilder non-Christians. He said people who don't have some knowledge of the Gospel may leave wondering why Christ endured such horrible suffering.

Baehr hopes Christians make themselves available to answer those questions. "Because it's just a very small frame--it's just the last few hours of Christ's life--people have been walking out, including reviewers, saying they didn't get the story. So this is up to Christians," he said.