The Passion of the Christ taught Hollywood executives a lesson about the audience for faith-based movies, becoming one of the biggest hit movies in box office history.
Like The Word, Christ himself, it’s a lesson many now turn their backs on.
And now Mel Gibson has just come clean about The Passion of the Christ sequel.
An audience for faith-based movies
Back in 2004, Mel Gibson and Jim Caviezel teamed up to make cinema history.
The Passion of the Christ was released on February 25 that year.
The film generated more than $612 million at the box office, won the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Drama, and was nominated for three Academy Awards plus Caviezel was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance.
Gibson has had a rocky road, to say the least, since then.
But in recent years, he’s been dipping his toes back in the movie-making waters.
In 2022, he co-started in Mark Wahlberg’s faith-based movie, Father Stu.
And now, the Braveheart star is fast at work to bring a religious sequel to the big screen.
Passion 2: Coming soon to a theater near you
Gibson has been wanting to bring a sequel to The Passion of the Christ to audiences for years now.
However, the movie has run into several roadblocks and delays.
But now Christians eager for the follow up to Jesus’ crucifixion story are one step closer to Passion of the Christ: Resurrection.
World of Reel is reporting that Randall Wallace – who is co-writing the film with Gibson and who was also the screenwriter for Braveheart – has confirmed the screenplay for Resurrection is finished.
Wallace added that Caviezel has officially signed on to star once again in the role of Jesus.
And he also dropped a big hint about when filming could begin.
“I ran into Mel just a couple of nights ago, we were talking about ‘when is this going to happen,’” Wallace said. “And I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag too early, but I think it’s coming very soon.”
According to World of Reel, locations for shooting have already been rented in both Mexico and Rome, Italy.
Gibson on the comeback trail
Gibson has previously hinted that the sequel will be a two-parter focusing on “Jesus’ descent into hell.”
“Resurrection would focus on the twenty-four hours encompassing Jesus’ passion and the events that occurred three days between his crucifixion and resurrection,” World of Reels reported.
For Gibson fans who need a fix before Resurrection debuts in theaters, he has once again teamed with Wahlberg for the movie Flight Risk, which is expected to be released later this year.
Stay tuned to Unmuzzled News for any updates to this ongoing story.
