| The Passion of the Christ | |
|---|---|
| Created by | |
| Original work | The Passion of the Christ |
| Owner | Icon Productions |
| Years | 2004–present |
| Based on |
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The Passion of the Christ is an American multi-language film series consisting of epic biblical drama movies, [1] [2] [3] based on the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as explained in The Holy Bible . The film series is directed, co-written, and produced by Mel Gibson. [4] The films center around Jesus Christ's life, ministry, death and resurrection.
In addition to directing, from scripts that he co-wrote, the filmmaker produced the productions due to Hollywood's disinterest in developing the first installment. Following the financial success of the original movie, Gibson negotiated a contract with Lionsgate Entertainment to serve as both a production studio, and the distributing company for the sequels. [5] Though the first installment was met with polarizing reception, [6] including a mixed at best critical reception, [7] [8] despite the acclaim it received from its audience. [9] it exceeded expectations by becoming a box office hit and became a financial success through its ticket sales. [10] [11]
Notably, The Passion of the Christ was also the highest-grossing R-rated film for two decades. [6] Earning its status as one of the greatest Christian-themed movies of all-time, [12] it also remains the most financially successful of the genre in film history, [13] as well as the highest-grossing independent film of all time. [14] It received three nominations at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005, for Best Makeup, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score. [15]
Its sequels, the second and third installments in the film series, began principal photography in August 2025 and will be released theatrically in 2027. [16]
Gibson stated that inspiration for the film series was partially influenced by his own personal tribulations. A decade prior to the release of The Passion of the Christ, he had a personal crisis overcoming substance abuse where he additionally struggled with suicidal thoughts, but he turned to God through prayer instead. While rereading The Holy Bible , the filmmaker explained that he had a spiritual awakening which inspired him to develop a film about his rekindled faith in the Savior. [17]
Though a sequel project remained in development for decades, Gibson stated that after the 2025 Greater Los Angeles wildfires he felt a spiritual purification following losing his home and possessions in the fire. The filmmaker stated: "I'm going to miss some stuff. There was some valuable stuff, some personal stuff, but I feel like I'm being stripped down and prepared for something else. I feel like the Almighty is preparing me to do something big." When asked if he believed this was to prepare him to begin production on The Resurrection of the Christ, he affirmed that losing his personal items allows him to focus on what he believes is a calling from a higher power to make the film. [18] [19] [20]
| Film | U.S. release date | Director | Screenwriter | Story by | Producers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Passion of the Christ | February 25, 2004 | Mel Gibson | Mel Gibson & Benedict Fitzgerald [a] | Mel Gibson, Bruce Davey and Stephen McEveety | |
| The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One [16] | March 26, 2027 | Mel Gibson & Randall Wallace | Mel Gibson & Donal Gibson and Randall Wallace | Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey | |
| The Resurrection of the Christ: Part Two [16] | May 6, 2027 | ||||
The first installment of the series (originally titled The Passion and The Passion of Christ, later retitled to The Passion of the Christ) [21] depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The film centers the final 12 hours before Jesus Christ's death, beginning with the Agony in the Garden of Olives/Gethsemane and ending with a brief description of his resurrection.
The Passion of the Christ was released on February 25, 2004, with multiple reviews from critics. It earned $612.1 million worldwide [22] against a $30 million budget and became the fifth highest-grossing film of 2004.
After spending years in development hell, a sequel was officially in development by February 2023. [23] [24] The plot will focus on the three days between Jesus' death and resurrection, as well as a depiction of the events of the War in Heaven with the "origin" of Satan and his fallen angels, explore different realms including Hell, and also end with the death of Christ's Apostles. [18] Principal photography had been scheduled to commence on April 30, 2023; [25] [26] but following delays Gibson began location scouting in Europe by September of 2024. [27] Later that month, the filmmaker stated that the actors reprising their roles from the first movie, would de-aged through the use of VFX. [28] In July 2023, Caviezel stated that the current draft of the script constitutes 2-3 sequels and will be multiple movies. [29] [30]
In January 2025, Mel Gibson was a guest on Joe Rogan's podcast and during the lengthy interview, he announced the film as his next project and stated that its current title is The Resurrection of the Christ. Confirming that it is in pre-production, the filmmaker stated that he felt the need to spiritually prepare for the work that will be required to finish the project, while saying that principal photography will likely commence in 2026. The script was written in collaboration by Gibson, his brother Donal, and Randall Wallace over a seven-year period. [18] Though Deadline reported that the lead role would be recast, [31] when Rogan asked if this would be the case, Gibson stated that despite the decades that have passed Jim Caviezel will reprise the role; while acknowledging that the use of CGI and various special effects would be used to allow the actor to appear the same age. [18] [32]
Later that month, following the 2025 Greater Los Angeles wildfires Gibson confirmed the movie is in pre-production, expressing that he felt a spiritual purification following losing his home and possessions in the fire. The filmmaker stated that he believed the experience helped to prepare him to begin production on The Resurrection of the Christ, he affirmed that losing his personal items allows him to focus on what he believes as a calling from a higher power to make the film. [19] [20] It was later reported that principal photography is tentatively scheduled to commence at the end of February, or beginning of March 2025. [33] [34] By March, it was officially announced that production would commence during the summer of 2025. [35] [36] By May 2025, Lionsgate Films announced that it would serve as one of the production studios, [37] as well as the distributing company. [38] The company released a short teaser trailer alongside the announcement, which reveals the official logo. [39] [40]
Principal photography is scheduled for August 2025 in Rome, Italy at Cinecittà Studios. [35] [36] Gibson confirmed in May 2025, that the project will potentially be two feature films. [41] [42] By August of the same year, movie was confirmed to be two feature-length movies which will enter principal photography back-to-back. Gibson will serve as producer, alongside Bruce Davey. [16] [43] The project's second teaser trailer, announcing the release dates for the sequels was released that month. [44] By October after principal photography had began however, it was reported that Caviezel and Belucci had exited the film, with their roles being recast. [45] Days later, it was announced that the entire cast of the original movie would be replaced due to the cost of using de-aging CGI special effects. Finnish actor Jaakko Ohtonen was cast as Jesus, Kasia Smutniak as Mary (mother of Jesus), Pier Luigi Pasino as Peter, and Riccardo Scamarcio as Pontius Pilate; respectively replacing Caviezel, Morgenstern, De Vito, Shopov, while Rupert Everett was cast in an undisclosed role. [46]
The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One will release theatrically on Good Friday, on March 26, 2027. [16]
In July 2023, Caviezel stated the script for The Resurrection of the Christ is long enough that it may require 2-3 movies to fully realize the project. [29] [30] In May 2025, Gibson confirmed that the project will be two feature films. [42] In August of the same year, Lionsgate officially announced that two feature film sequels to The Passion of the Christ, would enter principal photography back-to-back later that month. Gibson will serve as producer, alongside Bruce Davey. [16] [43] The project's first teaser trailer, announcing the release dates debuted with the studio's announcement. [44]
Principal photography commenced August 2025 located in Rome, Italy at Cinecittà Studios. [35] [36] Gibson confirmed in May 2025, that the project will potentially be two feature films. [42] By August of the same year, movie was confirmed to be two feature-length movies which will enter principal photography simultaneously. Gibson will serve as producer, alongside Bruce Davey. [16] [43] The project's second teaser trailer, announcing the release dates for the sequels was released that month. [44] By October after principal photography had began however, it was announced the movies would feature a new cast. [46]
The Resurrection of the Christ: Part Two will release theatrically on Ascension Day, on May 6, 2027. [16]
This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in the series.
| Character | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Passion of the Christ | The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One | The Resurrection of the Christ: Part Two | |
| Jesus Christ | Jim Caviezel [b] [47] | Jaakko Ohtonen [46] | |
| Mary | Maia Morgenstern [47] | Kasia Smutniak [46] | |
| Mary Magdalene | Monica Bellucci | Mariela Garriga [46] | |
| Peter | Francesco De Vito [47] | Pier Luigi Pasino [46] | |
| James | Chokri Ben Zagden | TBA | |
| John | Hristo Jivkov [c] | TBA | |
| Joseph of Arimathea | Giacinto Ferro | TBA | |
| Nicodemus | Olek Mincer | TBA | |
| Judas | Luca Lionello | ||
| Annas ben Seth | Toni Bertorelli | ||
| Caiaphas | Mattia Sbragia | TBA | |
| Herod Ántipas | Luca De Dominicis | TBA | |
| Pontius Pilate | Hristo Naumov Shopov | Riccardo Scamarcio [46] | |
| Claudia Procles | Claudia Gerini | TBA | |
| Barabbas | Pedro Sarubbi | TBA | |
| Satan | Rosalinda Celentano [d] | TBA | |
| Film | Crew/Detail | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composer | Cinematographer | Editors | Production companies | Distributing companies | Running time | ||
| The Passion of the Christ | John Debney | Caleb Deschanel | John Wright & Steve Mirkovich | Icon Productions | Newmarket Films LLC | 2 hrs 7 mins [49] | |
| The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One | TBA | TBA | TBA | Icon Productions, Lionsgate Films | Lionsgate | TBA | |
| The Resurrection of the Christ: Part Two | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | |||
| Film | Box office gross | Box office ranking | Budget | Worldwide total net income | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | Other territories | Worldwide | All-time North America | All-time worldwide | ||||
| The Passion of the Christ | $370,782,930 | $251,530,705 | $622,313,635 | #62 | #182 | $25,000,000 | $597,313,635 | [10] [11] |
| The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBA | TBD | TBD |
| The Resurrection of the Christ: Part Two | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBA | TBD | TBD |
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score | Metacritic Metascore | CinemaScore |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Passion of the Christ | 49% (281 reviews) [7] | 47/100 (44 reviews) [8] | A+ [9] |
| The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| The Resurrection of the Christ: Part Two | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Title | U.S. release date | Length | Composer(s) | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Passion of the Christ: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | February 24, 2004 [50] | 54:09 | John Debney [50] | Sony Music, Integrity Music [50] |
| The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| The Resurrection of the Christ: Part Two - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
{{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)This is a unique opportunity for him to share his story, just a month out from starting production on The Resurrection [of the Christ].