Award-winning director Mel Gibson announced the follow up to his 2004 hit movie "The Passion of the Christ". In an interview with Pastor Greg Laurie, the director said the sequel is titled "The Resurrection". As the name suggests, the movie would delve on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his victory over death.
The script of The Resurrection will be written by Gibson's long-time collaborator Randall Wallace, according to the Guardian. In an article from the Hollywood Reporter, the screenwriter said he always want to tell the story of Christ's resurrection. He added that The Passion is just the beginning and there's a lot more story to talk about.
"The evangelical community considers The Passion the biggest movie ever out of Hollywood, and they kept telling us that they think a sequel will be even bigger," Wallace said.
Wallace was nominated for an Oscar award for his script for Braveheart (1995), his first project with Gibson. The screenwriter also wrote other award-winning movies like Pearl Harbor, We Were Soldiers, Iron Mask and 2014's Heaven Is for Real. The latter is one of his recent faith films, which earned more than $101m worldwide. Interestingly, Wallace studied religion at Duke University.
As we mentioned earlier, Gibson confirmed the sequel of the Passion of the Christ in his guesting at SoCal Harvest event in Anaheim, California. In his interview with Pastor Greg Laurie, the director said that the movie is still in development and it is a massive undertaking.
"Of course, that's a very big subject and it needs to be looked at because we don't want to just do a simple rendering of it - you know, read what happened," Gibson stated. He also promised that he would handle the story carefully.
As of now, there's still no casting details about The Resurrection. Rumors around the internet claim Jim Caviezel might return in the title role and the movie might be released at the end of 2017 or early 2018.
Estimates from Box Office Mojo show the Passion of the Christ earned $611.8 million worldwide in 2004, making it the biggest crossover faith-based film in history. In addition, the movie is still the highest grossing R-rated film in the US box office.
With $30 million budget, the Passion of the Christ ushered a new wave of faith movies that is still being surfed by many producers and directors, according to The Guardian.
Stay tuned with Gospel Herald for more update about The Passion of the Christ 2.
