Development
In June 2016, writer Randall Wallace stated that he and Mel Gibson had begun work on a sequel to The Passion of the Christ (2004) which will focus on the resurrection of Jesus and the events surrounding the resurrection. [3] In 2018, Jim Caviezel said that Gibson had sent him the third draft of the screenplay, announcing his intentions to reprise his role as Jesus Christ. [4] [5] In 2020, Caviezel said that it would be titled The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection and predicted "It's going to be the biggest film in world history". [6]
In July 2023, Gibson stated the sequel was "coming soon", and that he had two versions of the script that he was working on, saying "one of them is a very structured and very strong script and kind of more what one should expect and the other is like an acid trip". [7] In September 2024, while promoting Monster Summer (2024), Gibson addressed concerns on how he would make believable that only three days have passed in-universe in the film given that more than 20 years have passed since the original film was made. Gibson originally planned to use de-aging technology to solve the issue, as Caviezel and other actors such as Maia Morgenstern as Mary, Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene, and Francesco De Vito as Saint Peter would either have to be de-aged or recast, while John the Apostle would have to be recast because Christo Jivkov died in 2023. [8] In January 2025, Gibson revealed that the title of the film was The Resurrection of the Christ. [9] In April 2025, Caviezel said that he would reprise his role as Jesus in the sequel and would be de-aged with the same modern technology employed in The Irishman (2019) because he needed to look three days older than how old he was in the original film, a preparation for which Caviezel said he he was asking Jesus to work through him. Gibson has teased the film as an "acid trip", as it explores Christ's time exploring Hell, dealing with fallen angels and the Harrowing of Hell. [10]
Casting
By October 2025, when the film was in pre-production however, it was reported that Caviezel and Bellucci had exited the film, with their roles being recast. [11] [12] [13] Days later, it was announced that the entire cast of the original movie would be replaced due to scheduling conflicts and the cost of using de-aging CGI special effects. Finnish actor Jaakko Ohtonen was cast as Jesus, replacing Caviezel; [14] [15] Mariela Garriga as Mary Magdalene, replacing Bellucci; [14] Kasia Smutniak as Mary (mother of Jesus), replacing Maia Morgenstern; [14] Pier Luigi Pasino as Peter, replacing Francesco De Vito; [14] and Riccardo Scamarcio as Pontius Pilate, replacing Hristo Naumov Shopov; [14] while Rupert Everett was cast in an undisclosed role. Ohtonen's casting in place of Caviezel sparked criticism in relation to what was seen as the further lightening of Jesus' skin color with the new actor; [16] [17] separately, Smutniak's support for the 2020–21 Strajk Kobiet protests against Poland's criminalization of almost all abortions meant that some Polish conservatives criticized her being cast as the Virgin Mary and began a campaign calling on Gibson to find a different actress for the role. [18] [19] [20]
