"Left Behind - World at War" opens in 3,000 churches Friday.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The third installment of the Bible-inspired Left Behind movie series is premiering this weekend, using an unconventional marketing strategy of screening the film in over 3,000 churches nationwide just a few days before the movie's DVD release.

The film, produced by Cloud Ten Pictures and distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, chronicles apocalyptic times after millions of Christians ascend to heaven during the Rapture. Those people remaining are left to deal with chaos on earth, including the rise of a charismatic European leader who promises world peace and believes all religions are the same, and who turns out to be Satan.

The first two films in the series, which came out on DVD in stores then had limited theater runs, sold more than 6 million copies and generated $100 million in spending, according to Peter Lalonde, chairman of Cloud Ten.

Lalonde hopes to move 2 million copies of the latest version in the first four months. At $25 a pop, that's $50 million.

But Lalonde says he isn't just doing it for the money.

"The process is very much about outreach for the churches," he said in an interview with CNNMoney, noting that even after the success of "Passion of the Christ," Hollywood hasn't responded with more evangelical fare. "We're hoping it will spur others to make these types of films."

Cloud Ten provides the DVD to churches for slightly less than its marketing cost and hopes it will create buzz for the DVD.

Sony is supporting Cloud Ten Pictures in the marketing project, according to a report in DVD Exclusive, a trade magazine.

"Our marketing is geared to the DVD release," Suzanne White, a Sony marketing vice president, told DVD Exclusive. "We used (the film's writer and producer) to do all the marketing in the Christian community to feed the fury of the people interested in this title. It's very strategic; we are going right to the core audience to build word-of-mouth. Who could be a better spokesperson than the pastor of a church?"

Sony hopes to use the experiment to see if the inexpensive church screenings will cut into DVD sales, according to the article.

Roughly two-thirds of churches screening the film plan on charging some type of admission, which will go into church coffers, Lalonde said.

______________________

Are DVD sales losing their sizzle just when Hollywood needs them most? Click here.