The recently released Fireproof DVD is selling well in the Christian retail channel. The top independent movie release of 2008--which stars Kirk Cameron as a firefighter who turns to God to save his marriage--was released on video Jan. 27.

"Fireproof had the highest pre-sell of any Christian DVD ever," Christian Book Distributors President Ray Hendrickson told Christian Retailing. "The Love Dare sales have been excellent."

The Love Dare (B&H Books/B&H Publishing Group)--a book that was a focal point of the surprise hit movie and written by the film's co-producing brothers Stephen and Alex Kendrick--has sold more than a million copies, and spent 17 weeks on the list, B&H officials said. Ranked No. 5 on The New York Times Paperback Advice best-seller list the week of Jan. 30, The Love Dare has also been ranked in the top 10 best-seller lists of CBA and the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.

Meanwhile, managers at Mardel Christian & Education and two Family Christian Stores in Colorado Springs, Colo., said advance orders for the Fireproof DVD were in the hundreds, and off-the-shelf sales were expected to be brisk, Colorado Springs' The Gazette reported.

"We were pretty surprised," Matt Bomar, assistant manager of one of the Family Christian Stores, told the newspaper. "Considering how bad the economy is, we were anxious about how sales would be."

Lifeway Christian Store in Albany, Ga., said early purchases were good and the store had extra staff on hand Jan. 27 to handle an expected big crowd, TV station WALB reported. Fireproof was produced by Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany. "We've been extremely busy," manager Mike Bertram told the Albany-area TV station. "It's taken off real well."

Elsewhere, nearly 500 people attended a special DVD release party Jan. 26 at Christian Supply in Spartanburg, S.C., which featured Stephen Kendrick as well as several Fireproof cast members, including Erin Bethea, Ken Bevel, Harris Malcom and Jason McLeod.

Before Fireproof hit theaters last fall, Christian Supply owner Chuck Wallington sent out a personal message in an e-mail, challenging ministry leaders to see the film and then generate support for the movie.

"He's (Wallington) been a great partner throughout the film, so the guys wanted to make the trip (to Christian Supply) to honor a retailer (who was) working so hard to get the word out about the film," Monique Sondag, a publicist for Fireproof, told Christian Retailing.

Meanwhile, Kerusso recently introduced "The Love Dare" shirt and cap. "We are already seeing extremely strong sales of the new shirt and cap, and expect it to be one of this year's best-selling T-shirts," Kerusso Vice President of Marketing Chris Rainey told Christian Retailing. "Prior to the theatrical release of Fireproof, we introduced two shirts and a cap-"Never Leave Your Partner" and "With All My Heart." All three items were immediate best-sellers, and have remained on our best-seller list."

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