Mel Gibson to Begin Filming Passion of the Christ Sequel This Summer, 21 Years After Record-Breaking Original

Gibson revealed the title of the follow-up as ‘The Resurrection of the Christ’ back in January

The Passion of The Christ sequel will begin filming this summer, Variety reports, citing CEO Manuela Cacciamani’s quotes to Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore
The film will shoot in Rome and rural locations in Southern Italy beginning in August, per Variety
Director Mel Gibson previously revealed that the title will be The Resurrection of the Christ, and Jim Caviezel will return as Jesus
The Resurrection of the Christ is moving forward with production this summer.

The long-awaited sequel to Mel Gibson’s 2004 blockbuster biblical drama The Passion of the Christ is set to begin filming this August at Cinecittà Studios in Rome, according to Variety, citing comments CEO Manuela Cacciamani gave to Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.

Per Variety, the sequel will also film in rural locations throughout Southern Italy including Altamura, Ginosa, Gravina Laterza and Matera.

Starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus Christ and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene among an ensemble cast, The Passion of the Christ broke records upon its release 21 years ago, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing movie of 2004 worldwide.

It received nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Makeup at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005, but did not take home any trophies.

A retelling of the last 12 hours of Jesus Christ’s life, The Passion of the Christ is the second-all-time-highest-grossing R-rated film in North America behind 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine.

Gibson, 69, previously spoke vaguely about the sequel over the years, telling Stephen Colbert in 2016, “It’s more than [the] single event [in the title], it’s an amazing event … and to underpin that with the things around it is really the story. To sort of enlighten what that means.”

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More recently, Caviezel, 56, speculated that the movie will be split into multiple parts, saying in July 2023, “It will be the biggest film in history. It might be two films. Could be three, but I think it’s two.”

The Passion of the Christ sequel will, of course, cover the resurrection of Jesus, but Gibson has said that there is so much more to unpack than just the son of God rising from the dead.

“It’s a huge subject, and it’s not a linear narrative,” he told Raymond Arroyo, host of The World Over on EWTN, in 2022. “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.”

Back in January, the two-time Oscar winner revealed the title of the sequel on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast but said he didn’t yet “have a start date,” adding, “I just have to begin pre-production and see what happens, and it’s just gonna roll in its own time.”

“I thought it was late. I thought I was taking too long, but it’s probably just right. It’s when it’s supposed to be,” Gibson added.

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• Two monks were returning to the monastery in the evening.

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