After 21 years, “The Passion of the Christ” is getting a sequel, with press accounts confirming that director Mel Gibson has partnered with Lionsgate on “The Resurrection of the Christ,” which is set to begin filming in Rome in the summer of 2025.
For context, on May 15, major film studio Lionsgate confirmed that it was partnering with Mel Gibson to produce “The Resurrection of the Christ,” the long-awaited sequel to Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” which was released in 2004 and became the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time until it was surpassed by “Deadpool and Wolverine” in 2024.
In an announcement from Lionsgate Motion Picture Group CEO Adam Fogelson on May 15, the partnership with Gibson was confirmed, with Fogelson saying, “For many, many people across the globe, ‘The Resurrection of the Christ’ is the most anticipated theatrical event in a generation. It is also an awe-inspiring and spectacularly epic theatrical film that is going to leave moviegoers worldwide breathless.”
After Fogelson’s statements were released, Gibson also commented on the partnership, saying, “Lionsgate’s brave, innovative spirit and nimble, can-do attitude have inspired me for a long time, and I couldn’t think of a more perfect distributor for ‘The Resurrection of the Christ.’” He added, “I’ve enjoyed working with Adam and the team several times over recent years. I know the clever ingenuity, passion, and ambition the entire team commits to their projects, and I’m confident they will bring everything they can to the release of this movie.”
In addition, Gibson appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast on January 9 2025, and discussed the film, telling Rogan that “Resurrection” would not have “a linear narrative,” adding, “You have to juxtapose the central event that I’m trying to tell with everything else around it in the future, in the past and in other realms, and that’s kind of getting a little sci-fi out there.”
Continuing, Gibson told Rogan that he believed that in order to “properly” tell the story of Christ’s resurrection, “You have to really start with the fall of the angels, which means you’re in another place, you’re in another realm. You need to go to hell.”
Later in the interview, Gibson confirmed that Jim Caviezel, who previously starred in “The Passion of the Christ, “would play Jesus once again. In addition, Gibson said that the film would “tackle this question: that there are big realms, spiritual realms. There’s good, there’s evil, and they’re slugging it out for the souls of mankind.” He added, “And my question is, why are we even important? Little old flawed humanity?”
Furthermore, Gibson opened up to Rogan about his personal faith, saying, “I was born into a Catholic family, I’m really Christian in my beliefs, you know, so I do actually believe this stuff, to the full.” He later added, “The institution [of the Catholic Church], it was instituted by Christ, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be flawed.”
Watch the teaser for the film:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video