Film star and director Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ has been one of the most highly anticipated movies in recent memory, inviting curiosity, controversy, scrutiny and, well, passionate reaction from people of different faiths, and from all over the country. The movie's Ash Wednesday opening kicked off a five-day box-office take of $125.2 million, the biggest ever for a film with a Wednesday debut (topping The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at $124.1). But attention for The Passion isn't limited to multiplexes or places of worship—it extends to bookstores and publishing houses as well.
It has been virtually impossible to escape the media blitz surrounding the film, with Gibson giving interviews on several major television programs (Primetime Live, The Tonight Show) and stories on the movie in every newspaper in the country just prior to its release. But the tide of Passion-related book sales started rising many months ago when Gibson began screening his film for a variety of religious leaders as well as for various Christian groups, including the Christian Booksellers Association, which currently claims 2,370 member stores. A number of CBA booksellers and publishers saw portions of the film last summer at the CBA International Convention and a full screening at CBA Advance winter conference in early February.
This sneak-peek marketing technique for the movie has had some ripple effect in the book world. Lane Dennis, president and publisher of Good News Publishers/ Crossway Books saw one of the previews and was compelled to act on it. "Lane was concerned that the movie didn't answer any questions like 'What if?', or 'What does this mean?' or 'What does this mean to me?'," said Marvin Padgett, editorial v-p for Crossway. "He thought a book that answers questions raised by the movie could be helpful to people, so he called [author and Baptist pastor] John Piper to discuss it. It turns out John had the same thoughts and it took him less than a month to write the book." Piper's The Passion of Jesus Christ: Fifty Reasons Why He Came to Die was released with a first printing of 175,000 copies on January 9. According to Padgett the book went back to press almost immediately and now has 1.6 million copies in print. "Virtually every one of those is sold," said Padgett. "We've had many direct sales to churches and ministries, but the bookstore sales have been phenomenal."
Tyndale House has the only officially licensed tie-in to the film with The Passion: Photography from the Movie The Passion of the Christ by Kenneth Duncan, with a foreword by Gibson. That book hit shelves February 9 with 150,000 copies. Now in its sixth printing, The Passion will boast 525,000 copies by the end of March. The title debuted at #5 on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list on March 7; #3 on PW's religion bestseller list for March; and at #13 on PW's list for the week of March 8.
Another title that has enjoyed a profile boost is The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by nun Anne Catherine Emmerich, a work that has remained in print, in different editions, since 1833. The title is actually a collection of Sister Emmerich's visions as recorded by poet Klemens Brentano; it was published after Emmerich's death. Gibson has mentioned the book as one that inspired him to make his movie. The current edition is from Tan Books in Rockford, Ill.
"It's been unbelievable," said Tan sales manager Brent Klaske of the recent surge. "We're a small niche publisher and most of what we do is keep Catholic classics in print," he commented. "The book has always sold well for our niche, but we've seen a 250% increase in sales since the beginning of the year." Tan has published its edition since 1983. In the past 20 years, the book sold a total of 54,000; from January 1 to March 1, 2004, it sold 27,000 copies.
Booksellers are just as thrilled as publishers to see these books take off. "We have in fact seen a spike in the sales of religion titles," said Borders spokesperson Emily Swan. In addition to The Passion book from Tyndale, she mentioned The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel (Zondervan), Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (HarperCollins), His Passion: Christ's Journey to the Resurrection, edited by Integrity Publishers, and Six Hours One Friday by Max Lucado (W Publishing Group) as titles that have been helped by Gibson's film. "Some of these titles in the religion category are experiencing a 200% increase in sales," Swan noted.
Kathi Kirby, purchasing manager for Powell's Books in Portland, Ore., said she was reordering The Passion from Tyndale, but added, "That's not where we've seen the action. More people are asking for The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ." Kirby had just placed an order for 50 additional copies of the Emmerich book. Kirby believes sales will continue to be good for Passion-related titles, at least for a while.
Logos Books in Dallas has sold 25 copies of the photographic Passion book. "Not bad for a $25 book," said owner Rick Lewis. Lewis says the Piper title is also performing well. "Yes, the movie is helping, but at least part of the sales bump is because we're in the Easter season. I think the movie helps give Christians a heightened sense of the meaning of the season." And in what may be the understatement of the season, Lewis noted, "Timing was everything on this."
