1.5 BILLION HAVE EYES ON CUP...B.O. SLUMPS 60% (VAR)

By Tom Tapp

An audience estimated at 1.5 billion watched Germany defeat Costa Rica 4-2 in Friday's World Cup opener Friday. The cumulative sudience worldwide for the event is expected to be around 32.5 billion over the course of the 4 week tournament. That would make a 10% boost from 2002's Cup.

While the games are happening in Munich, in Berlin, more than half a million people watched the game on large public screens throughout the city. Twelve hundred people marched before Sunday's Iran/Mexico game in Nuremberg to protest against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's anti-Israel rhetoric and denial of the Holocaust.

Meanwhile, the worldwide box office was slowed because of the event. Many European countries posted declines of 60% weekend to weekend. "The Da Vinci Code" was off 57% worldwide, pulling $22 million in a whopping 9,600 playdates. "X-men 3" dropped 62% to gross $12.8 million in 6,900 playdates. "The Omen" pulled in $19.3 million while "Cars took $5.4 million in a gradual rollout. One positive for the pic was its $11,638 per screen average.