Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” will be released on DVD on Aug. 31.
The actor-director’s company, Icon Productions, announced Monday that it has partnered with 20th Century Fox for the home-video distribution.
Gibson’s company couldn’t persuade any of the major Hollywood studios to distribute the movie, which was released in theaters on Feb. 25, Ash Wednesday on the Roman Catholic calendar. It became the year’s biggest blockbuster so far, earning a place among the top 10 highest-grossing movies of all time with more than $368 million at the North American box office.
Besides the film’s violent content, some Jewish organizations objected to the movie, starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus, fearing it would spark a rise in anti-Semitism by blaming ancient Jewish people for killing Christ.
“The Passion of the Christ,” which was filmed in Aramaic and Latin, will be presented with English subtitles on VHS and English and Spanish subtitles on DVD.
Any extra features included on the disc weren’t announced Monday.