Speculation about a sequel to ‘The Passion of the Christ’ is not new: since the film’s release in 2004, there has been discussion about the possibility of a continuation of the story of Jesus – which, all religious people know, doesn’t end after his death on the cross. In production since 2016, the narrative about what happened after the betrayal, torture and execution of Christ promises to come not only with Mel Gibson behind the cameras, but with Jim Caviezel himself in the lead role again, materializing a spine-chilling script .
20 years ago, Mel Gibson completely changed the history of epic films; more specifically, biblical films. Even though hundreds of other adaptations of the story of Jesus have already been made by different filmmakers, with different approaches (from Pier Paolo Pasolini to Martin Scorsese), Gibson carved his name in the history of cinema by delivering one of the most visceral films ever seen. . Completely unfiltered, the film presents Jesus’ last 12 hours before crucifixion; from the Last Supper to the end of his martyrdom.
Even though the film did not faithfully portray all the biblical events — some scenes contained in the script simply do not exist in the Scriptures — it was a huge commercial success, especially among Christian communities, giving the project the merit of being the most profitable adult film of all. times for many years. Remembered every Christmas and Easter season, ‘The Passion of the Christ’ can now be called a classic.
But the story doesn’t end there: neither that of the film, nor that of its success. In the final scene of Mel Gibson’s film, we are presented with a very brief glimpse of another part of the Messiah’s story; the one that comes right after his death. That is, his resurrection. Just as we are used to seeing in major cinema franchises, the final scene of a film almost always alludes to what will be covered in the next – and in ‘The Passion of the Christ’ the feeling seems to be the same.
Even though for many years the last scene of Gibson’s classic only ‘seemed to be’ a hook for a sequel, now it is effectively that: the connecting link between the first film and its sequel, planned for release in 2025, ‘A Passion of the Christ: Resurrection — Part 1’.
Twenty-one years after the success of the original, Mel Gibson and Jim Caviezel return in their respective works with the support of Randall Wallace, who has collaborated with the filmmaker before, writing the script for the award-winning ‘Braveheart’. The narrative, as is clear from the title, will be about the resurrection of Jesus three days after his death. The big trick, however, is that the film won’t be as simple and straightforward as it makes it seem.
In April 2023, Gibson himself had already revealed a few details about the future project. “I have two scripts, and one of them is much better structured and is strong, much closer to what you expect it to be. And the other is an acid trip, because you go to other dimensions and everything… I mean, you go to hell and see the other angels falling… It’s pretty crazy”, said the director to the American portal Outstanding Screenplays.
According to what the film’s official page on IMDb says, the director chose to go with the second option, which has nothing to do with what followed in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In the synopsis contained within his page on the portal of cinema and TV, is described: “A sequel to ‘The Passion of the Christ’ (2004), which focuses on what happened in the three days between the crucifixion and the resurrection, when Jesus descended into ‘Abraham’s Bosom’ to preach to the prophets of the Old Testament.”
Completely deviating from the chronological order of events according to the biblical narratives, Gibson intends to delve into completely new and, as you may have already imagined, quite controversial terrain.
There are many discussions that address where Jesus would have gone between death and resurrection. As Christianity believes in the existence of the spirit and soul, it is a fact for believers that when Christ died as matter, his soul must have traveled somewhere, before returning three days later.
With very few clues within the Bible itself, theologians and scholars in general need to take pieces here and there from the Scriptures themselves to give versions of what would have happened in this hiatus. And what ‘The Passion of the Christ 2’ will probably be based on.
The answer is spread across different parts of the New Testament, but is mainly concentrated during Jesus’ accounts of the parable of ‘The Rich Man and Lazarus’, written in the Gospel as Luke wrote, in chapter 16, between verses 22 and 23. In story related by Jesus, a rich man and a poor man, named Lazarus, die and go respectively to hell and to a place called ‘Abraham’s Bosom’, where the prophets and believers of the Old Testament are ‘kept’.
Some believe that Jesus would have ‘traveled’ to this place called ‘Abraham’s Bosom’ to preach the new commandments to the old believers and take them with him to the true ‘Paradise’, which Christ himself had said in life that the Father had prepared for Him and His children.
Other scholars, however, believe that Jesus would, in fact, have gone to hell – but he followed the same narrative: he preached the new Word and took the ‘imprisoned’ (including Judas Iscariot himself, his betrayer) to the place of peace. Could this be an argument for Gibson to describe the script as an “acid trip?” Perhaps.
This narrative is ‘confirmed’ by some biblical passages that follow throughout the books; but they are not in the Gospels, but in the following books. In the epistle written by Peter, called 1 Peter, in its third chapter, the Apostle discusses the practice of good by Christians, citing between verses 18 to 20 the ‘passage of Jesus’ through one of these two places (be it the Bosom of Abraham, be hell) during his carnal death.
In the writings, Peter says: “For Christ also died once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God; he was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in whom he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, who, in other times, were disobedient […]”.
The confusion over whether this so-called place would have been where the ‘good believers’ are ‘kept’ or whether it would be where ‘sinners’ are being ‘punished’ is quite long, has no conclusion and mainly focuses on the confusing idea of inaccurate translation of a word in Greek, which can mean either one thing or another.
It’s this head-scratching bit that Mel Gibson could use as the basis for his new script.
Thus, it is difficult to expect the new ‘The Passion of the Christ’ to be predictable and faithful to the snapshot accounts of what happens after Jesus’ crucifixion in the Bible, since there is so little about the subject to be explored.
The director, therefore, will have plenty of space to exercise his creative freedom in this new version. Spectators must be prepared to encounter everything, therefore: be it the devil himself, be it Moses, Abraham, Elijah, Isaiah, Hosea, Daniel or any other great character that passed through the Bible before Jesus Christ,
The film, which has ‘Part 1’ in the title, will have another part, which will complete a trilogy. In an interview, Jim Caviezel summarized in July 2023: “It will be two films. It could be three, but I think it’s two.”
According to the actor himself, this will be ‘the biggest film in history’, surpassing even the first.
Still without much clarity on what can be expected, we already have some certainties about production. As already stated, both Gibson and Jim will be back; in addition to them, Maia Morgenstern may return as Mary, Mother of Jesus, Francesco De Vito also as the apostle Peter; One absence that will necessarily have to be replaced is that of Christo Jikov, who played João, but died last year, victim of aggressive cancer at the age of 48.
There are no confirmations about Monica Belluci’s return as Mary Magdalene. Actress Rosalinda Celentano is also not considered to return; however, her role (that of the androgynous and bizarre Satan) could be quite relevant in this second part of the plot, and would certainly have more screen time than in the original feature.
Another fact we have about ‘The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection – Part 1’ is that it will, without a doubt, be a commercial blockbuster. Having profited more than 600 million dollars in 2004, it is expected that the 2025 launch will be as impactful as the previous one — given the increase in Christian religions in different regions of the world and their engagement in cultural productions in recent years.
Without further ado, production on the sequel to Mel Gibson’s classic should begin this year, if there are no complications along the way.
Watch the trailer for ‘The Passion of the Christ’, released in 2004, below.
