Briefly noted
Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ movie about the death of Jesus earned $17 million over the Easter weekend, making it the eighth-highest grossing film of all time. Gibson’s self-financed blockbuster had earned $354.9 million since it debuted on Feburary 25, Ash Wednesday. Other Passion-related products have also done well—a book, The Passion: Photography from the Movie, issued by Tyndale House Publishers, ranked No. 3 on the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list.