DALLAS -- Movie representatives said evangelistic zeal boosted advance ticket sales for "The Passion of the Christ" to more than $10 million.

According to The Dallas Morning News, religious leaders are calling the film one of the greatest evangelism tools ever.

Opening on Ash Wednesday may have boosted attendance at the film. Lauren Winter of Lewisville, Texas, attended the midnight showing in Plano with several friends.

"This will be the most devoted Lenten season ever," the 20-year-old student said. "This redefines what the Crucifixion means for me. It's Hollywood, but it's reality," Winter said.

Religious leaders said they hope the film encourages people to read the Scripture.

"We're advocates of the film because we believe that it can draw people more deeply into the Bible," said Dr. Bob Hodgson of the American Bible Society, based in New York.

"The film raises to a new level of consciousness the rugged, ragged and brutal reality of Christ's last 12 hours. Rather than the Crucifixion and the cross being benign symbols -- something that passing reference is made to or that hangs on a wall -- they are given new life in a very visual way," Hodgson said.

The American Bible Society Web site presents a guide to the Gospels and a hotline for questions.

The American Tract Society has also leaped on the "Passion" bandwagon. They printed more than 1 million glossy handouts with pictures from the movie on the cover.

"The evangelistic opportunity this movie provides is enormous," said Dan Southern, the society's president. "We have done tracts before based on movies. But the demand for these demonstrates what a religious phenomenon this movie has become."

Others have reservations about churches endorsing the film. Jonathan Lane, 18, a student at the University of Texas at Dallas, said churches using the film to recruit members made him uneasy.

"One ad I saw said, 'Go see The Passion and come worship with us.' If you need a movie to go to church, then maybe you are not going for the right reasons," Lane said.

Pastors defend outreach efforts surrounding the film as ways to begin faith discussions.

"It would be a tragedy for some people to see this as merely a movie and miss the message," said Ross Robinson, minister of missions and evangelism at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. Robinson rose and led the audience in prayer at the end of one showing.

"There are some churches that are dying, and some churches that are dead," he said in the article. "In this day and age, people need visual reference points for their faith, and if this film provides that, then it becomes one method for the church to remain relevant."