Hey, remember The Passion of the Christ? That 2003 movie is more well-known these days for its perceived antisemitic themes (not helped by director Mel Gibson’s drunken rants on the subject) than for its merits as a film, but it’s easy to forget how much of a smash hit it was. The film made an astounding $610 million worldwide. Even today, it’s the tenth highest grossing R-rated movie of all time (domestically, it’s #2, only beaten out by 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine.
The legend goes that Mel Gibson had a sequel in mind, following the story of Jesus’ time in Hell and resurrection and ascension to Heaven, but his various legal and personal troubles kinda got in the way. Now, more than two decades later, the sequel, or should I say, sequels, are on their way.
Originally, the plan was for the original cast to return, including Jim “I Believe Everything I Read On The Internet” Caviezel and Monica Bellucci. To account for the 20-year gap between the productions, Mel Gibson planned to use cutting-edge digital de-aging techniques to make the actors look younger. However, it seems this approach was deemed less-than-feasible or otherwise impractical, so Gibson & Co have decided on an age-old approach to handling an extended sequel gap: recasting.
Jim Caviezel played the title role of Jesus Christ in the 2003 film, which turned him into a household name. Since then, he went on to star in the successful TV series, Person of Interest, and the surprise hit, The Sound of Freedom. Meanwhile, Monica Bellucci, already an international star by the time The Passion of the Christ released, played Mary Magdeline. While both were expected to return for the sequel, their roles will now be cast, though no casting has been announced just yet.
They’d better act soon, since The Resurrection of Christ Parts 1 & 2 are currently scheduled for March 26, 2027 and May 6, 2027, a one-two punch of Catholocism for the Easter season. Hopefully, Mel “Mad Mel” Gibson doesn’t get another DUI before then, or else they might have to delay the film another 20 years.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
