Gibson’s Passion Drives Retail Sales
By George Anderson
All the interest generated by Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ has resulted not only in a big box office for the film, but has generated an increase in sales of
religious movies and documentaries on DVD.
Amazon.com opened its Easter store early to ride this wave of interest and others, such as Marc Oringer, owner of Champagne Video in New York, told USA Today that religious titles
“have been flying off shelves since the opening of The Passion.”
Mr. Oringer listed King David, Jesus of Nazareth, and The Greatest Story Ever Told as the most popular religious titles in his stores.
Moderator’s Comment: What impact do you think The Passion of the Christ will have
on retail sales? How sensitive is the issue of profiting from religion-based merchandise? – George
Anderson – Moderator
