Nolte: Report Says ‘Passion of the Christ’ Sequel Shoots This Spring

Nearly 20 years after The Passion of the Christ broke box office records, this report says shooting of the sequel, which will again star Jim Caviezel as Christ, will happen mid-year or late Spring:

I’m hearing Mel Gibson will finally be shooting “The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection” in a few months. A late Spring production is currently being eyed with Jim Caviezel set to return in the role of Jesus.

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Gibson has been hard at work on the screenplay with “Braveheart” screenwriter Randall Wallace — there have already been six drafts. ‘Resurrection’ would focus on the twenty-four hours encompassing Jesus’ passion and the events that occurred three days between his crucifixion and resurrection.

I’ve been hearing separate reports that Samuel L. Jackson has signed on and will appear in an end-credit scene meant to tie the whole Passion Universe together. Joke.

The last we heard about this movie, which will obviously cover some or all of Christ’s 40 days on earth after returning from the dead, was from star Caviezel nearly three years ago. By that time, the script was in its fifth draft.

“It’s going to be a masterpiece,” Caviezel told Fox News in March of 2020. “It’s gonna be the biggest film in world history; I believe it will be based on what I feel in my heart.”

If Gibson shoots mid-year, he could have the movie ready for release for Lent in 2024 — February 14. Back in 2004, Lent began on Wednesday, February 25. Gibson released The Passion of the Christ in 3,006 theaters on that same day, and it grossed an astonishing $26.5 million. By Monday, it had grossed $125 million. By the time its domestic run was over, Gibson’s self-funded masterpiece had grossed $370 million domestic and another $241 million overseas. The movie cost $30 million to produce. No one wanted any part of it. That’s how out-of-touch Hollywood was 20 years ago, and it’s only gotten worse since.

The Passion of the Christ blew me out of my seat in 2004, and my opinion has not changed. The “controversy” around it was pure anti-Christian hate. The charges of antisemitism were all lies. It was long past time for an accurate adaptation of Christ’s passion; a story focused on the timeline of Gethsemane to Golgotha. The world changed forever. No single event in secular or religious history has been near as monumental. And yes, the most vital part of that story was the horrific violence.

People must understand the horrors Christ voluntarily faced at the hands of his Roman torturers. It’s the only way, not only to appreciate the sacrifice on our behalf but to grasp that the torture and execution of Christ is a historical fact and that no one would willingly go through a painful scourging and slow death to protect a lie.

That’s what the Passion critics were upset about: a brilliant, artistic achievement that helped affirm and even make sense of the faith.

Hopefully, Gibson will continue. After Resurrection, I would love to see an adaptation of Acts. The story of what happened to the Apostles after Christ ascended is every bit as faith-affirming, history-based, and, yes, violent as The Passion.

While you’re waiting for The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection, if you haven’t seen it, check out Gibson’s under-seen masterpiece Apocalypto (2006), one of the most impressive pieces of pure filmmaking produced in decades.

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.