The Passion of The Christ came out in 2004 and was immediately famous for being one of the most brutal biblical movies ever made. And it is regarded as one of the most successful and controversial films ever made about Christianity. It has become controversial amongst people because of its recognizable subject matter. It shows us one of the most recognizable images of Western culture (Jesus on the cross) and forces us to violently reconsider something we see every day.
For all these reasons, Mel Gibson's sequel, The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection, is being awaited with great anticipation. According to actor Jim Caviezel who read a recent draft of the script, we're in store for Mel Gibson's magnum opus. Even so, there isn't much known about Gibson's plans for the sequel. Although the previous release date for the film had been set in 2021, most other details are kept very vague in interviews. The Express, a UK media site, had attempted to link Gibson's premiere date with the publishing of a book written by a University of Edinburgh professor. The professor has made a statement noting that while her book looks at Mel Gibson as a subject of study, her publishing date is not linked to any cinematic debut. Mel Gibson had no knowledge of the book either.
The site also claimed that much of Mel Gibson's sequel would take place in Hell. Gibson mused about taking us into Hell while chatting with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show in 2016. So perhaps, we will be treated to Gibson's interpretation of eternal suffering. Because it is not something of which there is a lot of knowledge, scholarly or otherwise, Gibson has an opportunity to take many liberties with his interpretation.
Resurrection: The Plot
When depicting the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is a dangerous subject to tackle. Most filmmakers would immediately be chastised for what might be interpreted as inaccurate stylistic choices. But Mel Gibson, more than most, has garnered enough respect from the Christian community that he probably has some room to work with. This is, of course, a good thing. This particular event in The Bible is one that, along with being the crux of an entire faith, is also quite limited in description. So this has a lot of room to be creative.
But Gibson has a few options. The Bible says little about what happened during those three days between Jesus' death and resurrection, except that he descended into hell before rising into heaven. But even though The Bible doesn't have much information to work off of, there are other works of literature that have become so integrated with Western religious culture that people sometimes confuse their events with canonical works. In this vein, Dante’s Divine Comedy would be Gibson’s biggest resource. While the "New Testament" hardly contains the word “Hell” at all, Dante’s Inferno is rich with descriptions of what Hell looks like and lists of just which ancient philosophers have taken up residence there.
And if he wanted, he could also use Milton’s Paradise Lost to describe Heaven and Hell. The epic poem is filled with imagery that has already permeated the culture. Perhaps it’s taking Gibson such a long time to work on the film because he has been busy studying both of these gigantic tomes.
Resurrection: The Cast
Jim Caviezel will be reprising his role as Jesus. Also returning are Maia Morgenstern as Mary, Francesco De Vito as Peter, and Christo Jivkov as John. Jim Caviezel had an interview with Breitbart in 2020 and said he had received the third draft of the script. This confirms that the movie was definitely coming. And, again, that he believes it will be the greatest film ever made.
But those involved in the film purposely keep information close to the chest. Much of the movie is up in the air, and so any statements on it could put a squeeze on production. Despite the script going through several iterations, Gibson seems determined to make this movie. If it is indeed to be his magnum opus, no one can blame him for trying to get it right. But at the moment, all we have is speculation.
The Biblical Movie
There have been several movies of great renown that have looked to The Bible for subject matter. And when studios do this, some of the more supernatural tales are often made larger-than-life due to movie magic. Not all are like this, as, for example, Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments were very dramatic. But films like Noah and the animated movie, The Prince of Egypt made use of lots of cinematic effects to emphasize the more supernatural parts of the film.
Noah, directed by Darren Aronofsky, centered around an iconic character from The Bible, who is possibly a lunatic, which the movie didn't shy away from. The film famously showed large rock creatures helping Noah. These are the Nephilim, or Watchers. A seldom studied subject of Christian apocrypha, these giants appear in texts that were once borrowed from the Hebrew manuscripts but eventually eliminated from the Christian faith. While the Nephilim are still referenced in the early books of The Bible, they are often counted among fallen angels and demons from texts like the "Book of Enoch" and are not commonly included in the Christian canon.
Mel Gibson’s Resurrection offers him a unique opportunity to take the most central miracle in the Christian faith and apply movie magic to its depiction. His previous movie was meant to be extremely realistic, but now Gibson has the opportunity to work with events that occur beyond the Earthly realm. And he must decide how to portray them. Noah used CGI to create giant creatures. But this does not seem to be Gibson’s style. After all, he’s not making any old action flick. He wants this to be his crowning achievement.
Release Date
Right now, the IMDb page for the film has a vague release date set for 2024, but this is likely to change.