In January, the cast of Crash won a SAG award for best ensemble, and then followed that up with an Oscar nomination. But nobody in the industry expected what would happen next, when the film stole the "Best Picture" honors at this year's Oscars away from heavy favorites such as Brokeback Mountain.

Well, that suprise top honor win has translated into increased sales for the film, now out on dvd.

Prior to the win, an average of 35,000 copies of Crash a week had been sold on dvd in the six months it's been in stores. But the award win had everyone wanting to know why this is the little film that could.

In one day, Crash sold a studio record of 17,500 copies. At Amazon.com, the film jumped from #103 on the sales charts to #23 -- a 347% gain.

On April 4, Lionsgate, the film studio that stood behind the film from the start, will release a double-disc "director's cut" of Crash. The new second disc will feature deleted scenes (both with and without commentary by director Paul Haggis), a "Making of Crash" featurette, script-to-screen comparisons, storyboard-to-screen comparisons, and much more. The "director's cut" dvd edition is now available for pre-order from Amazon.com.

Plans are also proceeding for a television series based on the movie. Last summer, cable network FX ordered a pilot script for a series to be executive produced by Haggis. The recent Oscar win and increased sales of the dvd make it more likely the show will get greenlighted in the near future.

The film is also making its world television debut on April 2 at 8pm est on Showtime, during a free sneak preview weekend. Lionsgate is also throwing the film back into a limited theatrical release beginning this weekend in both the US and the UK.

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