Today’s release of Mel Gibson’s epic The Passion of The Christ on DVD/VHS has resonated with America and resulted in sales in excess of 2.4 million copies by lunchtime on the West Coast. The unique nature of the film and its consumer has resulted in non-traditional retail patterns. In fact, for the first time ever, most purchasers of the Passion are buying more than one copy with the average being 1.8 copies. This incredible volume is even more impressive given the tenor of the film, its rating and the fact that it is not in English.
Focusing on the final 12 hours of the life of Jesus of Nazareth’s life, the year’s most talked about movie, The Passion of The Christ, makes its highly anticipated DVD and VHS debut. Released in theaters on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004, the powerful Mel Gibson-helmed epic went on to gross more than $370 million at the box office — earning a spot in the top 10 grossing movies of all time. Starring Jim Caviezel in the critically-lauded role of Jesus Christ and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene, The Passion of The Christ DVD is presented with a maximum bit rate, 5.1 Dolby Digital and 5.1 DTS, offering viewers the highest quality picture and audio. The film, which was shot in Aramaic and Latin, is presented with English subtitles on VHS and English and Spanish subtitles on DVD. Priced to own, the DVD is available in Widescreen or Pan And Scan for $29.98 and the VHS is $24.98.
Other accolades accorded The Passion of The Christ include: It is the #1 R-rated film in history; the #1 February release in history; the #1 non-English film ever released in the United States; the #1 independently distributed film in history; the #1 film in the U.S. for the first 23 days after its release; the #1 5-day per screen average ($41,295) and it tied for 5th fastest film to get to $100 million. The Passion of The Christ has a running time of 127 minutes and is rated “R” by the Motion Picture Association of America. It is closed captioned for the hearing impaired.
