PLANO, Texas, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- About 6,000 Texans were among the first to view "The Passion of the Christ" on its release day when a man bought out early morning shows at a Plano theater.
Arch Bonnema paid $42,000 to rent the entire Cinemark Tinseltown in Plano, beginning at midnight, for fellow church goers at Prestonwood Baptist Church, theology students and others, to view Mel Gibson's highly publicized film about Jesus' death, the Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday.
"About a month and a half ago, I saw the movie for the first time, and it was one of those life-changing events for me," Bonnema said. "This shows the significance of Jesus dying on the cross. For Christians, that is the biggest event of our life."
The film showed on all of Cinemark's 20 screens before the theater's regular opening at noon.
Following months of publicity, positive from evangelical Christians and negative from those claiming anti-Semitic overtones, "The Passion of the Christ" opened Wednesday in 3,006 theaters on 4,643 screens, according to the film's distributor.
