The film is cited in Russ Kick's 2004 work, "The Disinformation Book of Lists", as one of "16 Movies Banned in the U.S.," in between the 1987 film "" and "Ernest and Bertram", from 2002. Kick described the film as "obviously based on L. Ron Hubbard and the Church of Scientology." He recounted how the Church of Scientology changed tactics midstep, writing that "Lawyers and spokespeople for the Church professed that the movie bore absolutely no resemblance to Scientology, then turned around and sued the filmmakers after it had been showing for a few weeks." Kick ended his segment on the film by writing that "The litigation continues..." In October 2007, "The Times" discussed "The Profit" as part of an article on blasphemy in film. "The Times" noted that the film depicted a con man who had started a religion in order to become wealthy, and noted that the film is "banned in the US because of a lawsuit taken out against it by The Church of Scientology," even though the filmmaker stated the film does not depict L. Ron Hubbard. In October 2010, Andre Soares of "Alt Film Guide" noted that the Spanish website "Cineol.net" included "The Profit" in "a list of the top ten movies censored and/or banned in Spain". José Hernández of "Cineol.net" noted that the film was banned due to a court order, and might never be seen other than in a clandestine manner.