The epic film based on the final twelve hours of Christ’s life, The Passion of the Christ, has broken the record sales of the hugely popular Lord of the Rings movie on DVD and VHS in a single week, according to official reports.

Mel Gibson’s Biblical blockbuster sold nearly nine million copies within its first week on release, which beats JRR Tolkien’s movie adaptation, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The film studio behind the making of The Passion, 20th Century Fox launched a massive marketing and promotional campaign for the DVD’s release among religious communities and organisations.

However, even this great feat could not compare to the sales of popular animated family films, and the film Finding Nemo outshone all competition, selling eight million copies in just one day.

20th Century Fox’s campaign saw more than 6 million Christian homes receiving emails promoting the DVD’s release, and churches were also notified about special deals for bulk orders of the film.

Amazingly, the controversial religious epic does not contain any extras or commentary at all, which is extremely rare for modern DVD’s.

The first day’s sales helped the film reach its record of 9 million sales in the first week, as the first 24 hours on release saw four million copies bought.

The Passion of the Christ, which stars Jim Caviezel as Jesus, was one of the year’s biggest cinema releases, and took more than £335 million at the global box office.