Resurrecting Jesus just once wasn’t enough for Mel Gibson.
On Tuesday, Lionsgate revealed that the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s highly-anticipated Passion of the Christ follow-up will be split into two movies — and keeping in line with their theme, will arrive on two biblically important dates.
The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One will hit theaters on Good Friday, March 26, 2027, while Part Two will launch 40 days (and 40 nights) later on Ascension Day, which falls on May 6, 2027.
The films are Gibson’s follow-ups to the landmark 2004 film, which starred Jim Caviezel as Christ and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalen. The project was produced and self-financed by Gibson for a reported $30 million, a gamble that more than paid off when the film debuted to an opening weekend of $83 million and eventually earned $370 million in North American theaters, and more than $610 million globally. Until last year, it was also the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time domestically, and the highest-grossing indie of all time.
Jim Caviezel in ‘The Passion of the Christ’.
Newmarket/ Everett
The Resurrection of the Christ Parts One and Two will be produced by Gibson and his Icon Productions partner, Bruce Davey. The filmmaker provided an update on the follow-ups earlier this year, during a visit to the Joe Rogan podcast.
“I’m hoping [to start filming] next year sometime,” Gibson shared. “There’s a lot required because [the script is] an acid trip. I’ve never read anything like it. There’s some crazy stuff. In order to tell the story properly you have to start with the fall of the angels. You’re in another realm. You need to go Hell. You need to go to Sheol.”
Asked Rogan: “So you’re going to have Hell? You’re going to have Satan?”
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“You got to have his origin,” Gibson answered, nodding. “I’ve been thinking about that for a long time. It’s going to require a lot of planning. I’m not sure I can pull it off. It’s super ambitious, but I’m going to take a crack at it… It’s about trying to find a way in that’s not cheesy or obvious. It’s almost like a magic trick. [The story] goes from the fall of the angels to the death of the last apostle.”
