Almost 20 years later, it seems that everything is on track for a sequel to the film “The Passion of the Christ” and, in the last few hours, the film became a trending topic. It was recently revealed that Mel Gibson, the director of the famous film that recounted the events of Jesus of Nazareth from Holy Week to Easter, is in Europe looking for locations for this production.
According to Variety, Gibson toured Malta with a production team and later reached the Puglia region in southern Italy, where he visited several rural locations, including the ancient towns of Ginosa, Gravina Laterza and Altamura, said the director of the Puglia Film Commission, Antonio Parente.
“All we can confirm is that they have been scouting locations recently,” said Gibson’s publicist, Alan Nierob, a Variety in an email, adding that “there is not much to discuss at this early stage.”
Nierob also specified that any casting details for the sequel, titled The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection, are premature.
On the other hand, it was fairly well known that Gibson had been working for years on the sequel script with “Braveheart” screenwriter Randall Wallace, who in an interview with ORMI Media in April said that the script was finished and that Jim Caviezel would return to star as Jesus.
Regarding the plot, “The Passion of the Christ 2” would address the theme of resurrection with a more spiritual and philosophical approach.
“It’s a huge story. It’s not a linear narrative… you have to juxtapose the central event with everything that surrounds it in the future, in the past, and in other realms. And that becomes almost science fiction-like. It’s a difficult concept,” Gibson said in an interview with a Catholic website in 2022.
Record numbers for “The Passion of the Christ”
Released in 2004 to great acclaim, Gibson’s take on Jesus’ final days on earth, The Passion of the Christ, became the highest-grossing independent film of all time, earning nearly $612 million worldwide.
However, it did not escape controversy, as is often the case with films linked to religion. The film was considered anti-Semitic because it implied that Jewish leaders were to blame for Jesus’ death.
The controversy also fueled interest as churches bought entire halls for their worshippers.
