Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ 2 will probably be his biggest project yet, but what can we expect to see from the long-awaited sequel?
2004’s The Passion of the Christ managed to instigate a lot of buzz and controversy, not to mention gross more than $600 million at the box office against a budget of $30 million. By every definition of the word, the movie was a hit. And yet, it’s taken more than 15 years for Mel Gibson to finally produce and direct a sequel. The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection, as the name suggests, will delve into the mystery and phenomenon of the Resurrection and what Christ had to endure to come back from the dead.
Jim Caviezel, who plays the titular role of Jesus of Nazareth, has already said that the sequel will go down in history as the “biggest movie of all time.” As if that weren’t enough to pique our curiosity, Randall Wallace, the Braveheart screenwriter who’s working alongside Mel once again, recently teased us by saying that The Passion of the Christ 2 will be the Mount Everest of movies. And now, he’s given us yet another update on their progress and what they’re trying to capture with the project.
“It’s something we continue to discuss,” He told Polygon. “We both consider that the Mount Everest of all stories. There’s a theologian named NT Wright, that I heard recently in a lecture. I am Christian, I’ve always been taken with the Resurrection. It’s a profound mystery, and NT Wright says, ‘If you don’t find the Resurrection preposterous, you’re missing the point.'”
The writer then talked about the Resurrection itself, noting:
“It’s literally the mind-blowing event that is beyond anything we can make sense or imagine. And yet the earliest Christians died saying ‘It happened, I believe it.’ Or even ‘I witnessed it.’ We continue to discuss it. We’re not ready to talk about it at all about what we’re planning to do,” He continued.
It looks as though we’re in for quite a ride. Though Winona Ryder recently accusing Mel Gibson of anti-semitic behavior may end up jeopardizing The Passion of the Christ 2, it’s safe to say that fans of the original will want to see the continuation of this story if it ever gets made.