‘Passion’ sells 4 million DVDs on first day

In its first day on video store shelves, Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” -- the unlikely blockbuster about the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus -- sold more than 4 million copies.

The opening-day numbers fell short of the reported 8 million DVDs sold by Disney’s animated “Finding Nemo” last year and the reported 7 million for Sony’s live-action “Spider-Man” in 2002. Still, “The Passion” set a record for first-day tallies in the categories of R-rated, independent and non-English language films, according to Steve Feldstein, senior vice president at Fox Home Video, which is distributing it.