The Passion of the Christ arrived with a hint of controversy to it more than two decades ago, but that did nothing to harm its box office prospects as the movie went on to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time for a generation. And now, Mel Gibson is finally preparing to continue the story — but he’s promising it won’t be the story you think you know.
Speaking with Collider’s Steve Weintraub during a panel at Fan Expo Boston, Gibson revealed that The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One and Part Two were filmed simultaneously in Rome and are currently deep into post-production. When asked whether both films had been completed, Gibson confirmed that principal photography is finished and teased just how unusual his approach to the Resurrection will be.
“Yeah, I shot them both in Rome and together at the same time. So now I’m in post-production. I’m editing and doing visual effects. It’s pretty crazy. I don’t think it’s anything anyone would expect.”
The project wasn’t something Gibson originally planned immediately after The Passion of the Christ. Instead, the concept evolved for more than two decades, with Gibson spending close to a decade writing alongside Randall Wallace, who previously wrote Braveheart, as well as Gibson’s brother. He explained that simply depicting the Resurrection as a linear sequel wouldn’t adequately communicate the story he wants to tell.
“Well, I didn’t initially set out to make this part, but over about 23 years — well, 23 years before we started to make it — but it took almost 10 years to write it with Randall Wallace and then my brother, and we sat down and we rolled our sleeves up, and it was a very difficult subject because anybody gets murdered in public and then under his own strength and power comes back to life, and there’s not just a biblical account,” Gibson stated. “There are 17 separate secular historians that attest the same kind of thing. So it’s not a fairy tale, and the object is to make it believable and understandable at the same time, and it’s a very difficult thing to understand. So you can’t just tell the linear story that way. It’s like, okay, you have to juxtapose the actual event against many other actual events in order to grasp the significance of it, so it’s another jigsaw puzzle. It’s not linear.”
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Why Is ‘The Resurrection of the Christ’ in Two Parts?
Gibson also confirmed the split was already built into the screenplay rather than something discovered during filming or editing. According to the filmmaker, the sprawling story naturally divided itself into two distinct pieces.
“It had it in the script, but it had a natural breaking point. There’s Part One and Part Two, and they’re distinct. I think they stand alone as individual pieces, but they do complete one another. So that’s good.”
Perhaps the biggest and most divisive difference from The Passion of the Christ will be immediately noticeable. While Gibson’s 2004 film was performed primarily in Aramaic and Latin, both Resurrection installments will be in English because of the complexity of the material.
“I think you can afford to do that sometimes,” said Gibson. “Sometimes you can’t afford to do that, like the Resurrection films, Parts One and Two. They’re both in English because the subject matter and just the theological download you have to go through is so complex that I don’t think people would like to have to read it in subtitles in a foreign language. You want to be able to digest it straight away. So I tailored the material to fit the audience, and I think having it in the vernacular would be better for it.”
Gibson later revealed just how enormous the production became, explaining that practical sets were constructed for Jerusalem, Damascus, Rome, Egypt and the desert before being dismantled once filming wrapped. “We deconstructed the sets on the Resurrection films one and two. Those sets you will never, ever in this industry see sets built like that ever again… It was Jerusalem, it was Damascus, it was Rome, it was out in the desert, it was Egypt, it was the whole thing, and massive sets built by the man who did the sets on The Passion, Francesco Frigeri, and he’s a master. He’s a maestro of this company, so he built these sets, and they were magnificent.”
The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One and Part Two are currently in post-production.
