Critics say Gibson's production company has been too secretive about the movie's content and has allowed it to be prescreened only by people they think will like it. Meanwhile, quietly, the film's marketers are developing a partnership with Christian pastors and ministries.
As Kim Lawton reports, many Christians see THE PASSION as an opportunity for evangelizing, while the marketers see the ministries as a key to advance sales.
KIM LAWTON: Advance promotional trailers for THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST have been playing in movie theaters, over the Internet, and now in local churches too. In a specially designed four-minute-long trailer for churches, Mel Gibson tells congregations about his film.
MEL GIBSON: My hope is that its message will change people's lives, remind them of the enormity of the sacrifice that was made for us all. It's a story I believe in.LAWTON: The church trailer also includes an endorsement from prominent evangelical author and pastor Lee Strobel.
LEE STROBEL (Author, THE CASE FOR CHRIST): Just like Mel's obedience to his calling in making the movie, I believe God has a role for you and for me in sharing its message with unbelievers.LAWTON: The trailer is on a DVD being sent free of charge to thousands of pastors across the country, but not to the media. It's part of a massive grassroots marketing campaign designed to encourage Christians to promote THE PASSION as a way to spread their faith -- a campaign that troubles some of Gibson's critics.
ABRAHAM FOXMAN (Anti-Defamation League): There is an offensive commercial tinge to this. It's almost a, it becomes a religious mission to see this movie.
LAWTON: Officials of Gibson's company, Icon Productions, declined to comment on the campaign, which a spokesman called a typical "affinity marketing strategy." Evidence of the strategy is abundant on the Internet.
The California-based Christian ministry Outreach, Inc. worked with Icon to produce the DVD and has set up a Web site calling THE PASSION "perhaps the best outreach opportunity in 2,000 years." The site has resources for churches, including 13 ideas on how they can use the film. There are sermon outlines and suggestions for establishing discussion groups. Pastors can buy PASSION-themed invitation cards, evangelistic booklets, bulletin inserts, and even doorknob hangers that can be personalized to invite the community to specific local churches.On another site, churches can buy 30-second commercials to run on their local TV stations. The spots include scenes from the movie, and then have a place for pastors to appear and personally invite people to attend their church.
PETER BRADLEY (President, International Bible Society): We see this film as a wonderful, let's call it awakening. I think it's going to draw people into the gospel in a way they probably hadn't perceived before they walked into that theater. And we see it as a terrific way to bring people back into the Bible.
Mr. FOXMAN: They're trying to manage it before its opening, in the hopes that they can presell as many tickets and, you know, hook as many people before there is an open debate and discussion.
LAWTON: THE PASSION opens nationwide on Ash Wednesday, February 25. Between the controversy and the grassroots church efforts, it has already received more advance buzz than most film producers could ever dream of getting.
