Mel Gibson is offering an update on the long-delayed sequel to his 2004 film The Passion of the Christ.
Gibson, 69, appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast to promote his new movie as director, Flight Risk. During the interview he confirmed he plans to film the sequel to his biblical epic in 2026.
“I’m hoping next year sometime. There’s a lot required because it is— I’ll just tell you this, it’s an acid trip,” Gibson said of the film, also revealing its title will be The Resurrection of the Christ.
“When we wrote it— I’ve never read anything like it. My brother [Donal Gibson] and I and [screenwriter Randall Wallace] all sort of congregated on this, so there’s some good heads put together, but there’s some crazy stuff,” he said.
Passion of the Christ starred Jim Caviezel as Jesus Christ and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene among an ensemble cast. Gibson said on the podcast that he still intends to have Caviezel, now 56, reprise his role for the sequel even though 20 years have passed.
Newmarket/courtesy Everett Collection
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“So that’s the title and, yeah, it’s very ambitious, that’s all I’ll say. It took a long time to write. It’s really ambitious and it goes from the fall of the angels to the death of the last apostle,” Gibson said.
“I don’t have a start date, I just have to begin pre-production and see what happens, and it’s just gonna roll in its own time. It’s taking its own time. I thought it was late. I thought I was taking too long, but it’s probably just right. It’s when it’s supposed to be.”
The R-rated Passion of the Christ became the fifth-highest-grossing movie of 2004 worldwide. It received nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Makeup at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005, but did not take home any trophies.
Newmarket/courtesy Everett Collection
Gibson appeared on Rogan’s podcast from Austin, Texas; he revealed during a Jan. 9 appearance on NewsNation that his Malibu, Calif., home was destroyed in the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires while he was away from the city.
“The good news is that those in my family and those I love are all well, and we’re all happy and healthy and out of harm’s way, that’s all I can care about, really,” the filmmaker said, after confirming his partner Rosalind Ross and the family had previously evacuated.
Gibson’s latest film Flight Risk, which costars Mark Wahlberg, Topher Grace and Michelle Dockery, is in theaters Jan. 24.
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