Mel Gibson has wrapped up filming for “The Resurrection of the Christ,” the long-awaited sequel to 2004’s “The Passion of the Christ,” and the director says the two-part sequel turned out “exactly as I envisioned it.”
“I’m deeply grateful to my incredibly talented cast and crew for pouring their hearts into this production. Together, we created something powerful,” said Gibson.
“This film represents a major part of my life’s work, and it has demanded everything of me as a filmmaker and as an artist. This is far more than a film to me. It’s a mission I’ve carried for over 20 years to tell what I believe is the most important story in human history.
“Reuniting with many of my original collaborators from ‘The Passion of the Christ’ – true masters of their craft – allowed us to bring this story to the screen exactly as I envisioned it, with the tremendous support of my longtime partners, Adam [Fogelson] and the team at Lionsgate.”
Fogelson, the chair of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said: “Mel is a true visionary with an artist’s eye for scale and a storyteller’s instinct for emotional truth.”
“Every image we’ve seen from set feels like a masterwork painting brought to life. There are very few directors who can operate at this level of epic spectacle while at the same time delivering such depth and conviction. Mel has crafted a film of extraordinary ambition that audiences worldwide have been waiting to experience for over 20 years.”
Appearing on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Gibson said the new “Resurrection” films would dive into “the spiritual realms” and the fight for the “soul of mankind.”
“There’s good, there’s evil, and they are slugging it out for the souls of mankind,” he said. “And my question is, ‘Why are we even important, little old, flawed humanity? Why are we important in that process where the big realms are slugging it out over us?’”
Gibson also told Rogan he believes Jesus’ resurrection is a factual event.
“I regard the gospels as history, as verifiable history,” he explained. “Some people say, ‘Oh, it’s a fairy tale. He never existed.’ But He did.
“And there were other accounts, verifiable, historical accounts outside the biblical ones that also bear this up that yes, He did exist. And the other aspect of that is that all the evangelists, the apostles who went out there, every single one of those guys died rather than deny their belief. And nobody dies for a lie. Nobody.”
Rogan noted: “The resurrection is the one that is the most difficult for people to swallow. That is the one that requires the most faith.”
Gibson responded: “Who gets back up three days later after He gets murdered in public? Who gets back up under His own power? Buddha didn’t do that s***.”
WATCH:
Mel Gibson told Joe Rogan he fully believes the resurrection of Jesus was a real, historical event—not just a matter of faith, but fact.
He said the Gospels are more than just spiritual writings—they’re history.
He pointed out that the Apostles, who all died for their beliefs,… pic.twitter.com/CDpWYIyfno
— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) April 20, 2025
The filming concluded ahead of schedule after shooting for 134 days at locations across Italy, including Rome, Bari, Ginosa, Craco, Brindisi and Matera.
Finnish actor Jaakko Ohtonen plays Jesus in the new films, taking over the lead spot from Jim Caviezel, who had originally been cast to reprise his “Passion” role. But reports cite scheduling conflicts and the challenges of de-aging technology as reasons for the casting swap.
“It made sense to recast the whole film,” a source close to the production told Variety. “They would have had to do all this CGI stuff – de-aging and all that – that would have been very costly.”
As WorldNetDaily previously reported, Caviezel had said of Gibson’s sequel: “I’ll tell you this much, the film he’s going to do is going to be the biggest film in history. It’s that good.”
Mariela Garriga will portray Mary Magdalene, taking over the role from Monica Bellucci.
The studio also announced the epic will be released in two parts, with “Part One” released on May 6, 2027 (Ascension Day 2027), and “Part Two” coming on May 25, 2028 (Ascension Day & Memorial Day Weekend 2028).
“The Passion of the Christ” debuted to an opening weekend of $83 million on its way to taking in $370 million in North American theaters and more than $610 million globally off a $30 million production budget, making it the top-grossing independent movie of all time.
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Jim Caviezel: New ‘Passion of the Christ’ to be ‘biggest film in history’
