Once upon a time, there was an unwritten rule that studios would not make biopics about people who were still alive. Since a few years back, however, starting with movies like The Theory of Everything (2014) and Southside With You (2016), which cover the lives of Stephen Hawking and the Obamas, respectively, respect for the living was officially thrown out the window in exchange for good old fashioned monetary gain.
Now, however, Hollywood may have discovered a new low when it comes to biopics. Making a movie that’s trying to finalize the life of a person who’s still breathing is one thing, but what about following up your biopic with, well, another biopic?
Although actor-director Mel Gibson has reportedly been thinking about doing a sequel to 2004’s infamous The Passion of the Christ, the current state of the project was for long a total mystery. Following a recent interview with the film’s screenwriter, Randall Wallace, however, MovieWeb reporter Ryan Scott thinks he’s got reason to assume such a sequel may be closer to happening than we previously thought.
“It’s something we talk about a lot,” Wallace told Scott when asked about plans for a Passion of the Christ sequel. “My major in college was religion, and I did a year seminary afterward. My major focus of study was the resurrection. That is the Mount Everest of movies and we are in discussions about it a lot. It’s a highly-charged one, so we keep our cards close to our chest.”
It’s probably that last sentence which sparked Scott’s imagination. As for the rest of the quote, it seems to be in line with what we’ve heard so far.
According to Gibson, the sequel, which is to be titled Resurrection, will focus on the time between Jesus’ mastery of death and his ascension to heaven. How the film will derive its sense of tension considering the messiah has already withstood the biggest trial of his life, though, is another question altogether, and one Scott probably should have asked the screenwriter of The Passion of the Christ to start with.