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CNN Live At Daybreak
Church Groups Promoting "The Passion of the Christ"
Aired February 25, 2004 - 05:56 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Church groups love it. "The Passion of the Christ" opens today and many of those promoting the movie are selling seats in the hopes of saving souls.
Our J.J. Ramberg has details from Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
J.J. RAMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This past Sunday at the Calvary Chapel in Long Beach, California, Pastor Roger Cochran preached the gospel of the lord and of Hollywood.
REV. ROGER COCHRAN, CALVARY CHAPEL OF LONG BEACH: With that I would like to just draw your attentions to just for a few moments about this movie that's going to be released this Wednesday.
RAMBERG: His referral to the movie, "The Passion of the Christ," is echoing across the country, where thousands of congregants are taking part in what may be one of the biggest grassroots marketing campaigns Hollywood's ever seen.
WILLIAM DONOHUE, PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC LEAGUE: We first bought 1,200 tickets, subsidizing it at $5 a pop, even though it cost us $8 a pop. We sold out in two days, so we bought 2,000 more tickets. And we sold out again within two days.
RAMBERG: Some churches are promoting the film to help spread their message. Whatever the goal, it's selling tickets.
STUART HALPERIN, VICE PRESIDENT, MOVIETICKETS.COM: This is a phenomenon, a standout. I'll think of words in that realm to describe this film. There are a lot of instances where we sell advanced tickets for films, but they're typically expected. But you have a film like this, it's very much a pleasant surprise that we're selling the amount of tickets that we're selling in advance.
RAMBERG: While Movietickets.com and other advanced ticket sellers say sales haven't reached the numbers of the "Lord of the Rings" or "Harry Potter," most expect opening day to be big. But after that, some box office watchers say sales may taper.
MARTY GROVE, HOLLYWOODREPORTER.COM: I think this movie is going to be very different from what we usually see. What we see is an audience broadening out as word of mouth spreads. Other people get interested. They say, you know, it sounds good, I want to see this.
What we're going to find, I think, were people who say it was subtitled and I didn't realize that. Oh, it was violent, gory, bloody. Ah, I couldn't look at the screen. I don't think that's going to send other people to want to see the movie.
RAMBERG (on camera): Typically, religious films are not mega hits at the box office. Total revenue from the top five religious films over the past four years still doesn't even add up to what "Finding Nemo" made the first weekend. But the combination of superstar Mel Gibson and all the hype surrounding this movie may cause "The Passion of the Christ" to be the exception.
J.J. Ramberg, CNN Financial News, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 25, 2004 - 05:56 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Church groups love it. "The Passion of the Christ" opens today and many of those promoting the movie are selling seats in the hopes of saving souls.
Our J.J. Ramberg has details from Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
J.J. RAMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This past Sunday at the Calvary Chapel in Long Beach, California, Pastor Roger Cochran preached the gospel of the lord and of Hollywood.
REV. ROGER COCHRAN, CALVARY CHAPEL OF LONG BEACH: With that I would like to just draw your attentions to just for a few moments about this movie that's going to be released this Wednesday.
RAMBERG: His referral to the movie, "The Passion of the Christ," is echoing across the country, where thousands of congregants are taking part in what may be one of the biggest grassroots marketing campaigns Hollywood's ever seen.
WILLIAM DONOHUE, PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC LEAGUE: We first bought 1,200 tickets, subsidizing it at $5 a pop, even though it cost us $8 a pop. We sold out in two days, so we bought 2,000 more tickets. And we sold out again within two days.
RAMBERG: Some churches are promoting the film to help spread their message. Whatever the goal, it's selling tickets.
STUART HALPERIN, VICE PRESIDENT, MOVIETICKETS.COM: This is a phenomenon, a standout. I'll think of words in that realm to describe this film. There are a lot of instances where we sell advanced tickets for films, but they're typically expected. But you have a film like this, it's very much a pleasant surprise that we're selling the amount of tickets that we're selling in advance.
RAMBERG: While Movietickets.com and other advanced ticket sellers say sales haven't reached the numbers of the "Lord of the Rings" or "Harry Potter," most expect opening day to be big. But after that, some box office watchers say sales may taper.
MARTY GROVE, HOLLYWOODREPORTER.COM: I think this movie is going to be very different from what we usually see. What we see is an audience broadening out as word of mouth spreads. Other people get interested. They say, you know, it sounds good, I want to see this.
What we're going to find, I think, were people who say it was subtitled and I didn't realize that. Oh, it was violent, gory, bloody. Ah, I couldn't look at the screen. I don't think that's going to send other people to want to see the movie.
RAMBERG (on camera): Typically, religious films are not mega hits at the box office. Total revenue from the top five religious films over the past four years still doesn't even add up to what "Finding Nemo" made the first weekend. But the combination of superstar Mel Gibson and all the hype surrounding this movie may cause "The Passion of the Christ" to be the exception.
J.J. Ramberg, CNN Financial News, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
