It took years, but the sequel to Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” was finally filmed in Rome not that long ago, and the resulting two-part feature is currently well into post-production.
One big change with the two-part “The Resurrection of the Christ” from its predecessor is that the film will use an English-language audio track, not the Aramaic and Latin vocals of 2004’s “The Passion of the Christ”.
Speaking at a Fan Expo Boston panel with Collider, Gibson says the reason he opted for that approach is that the material became too complicated to ask audiences to process through subtitles:
“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. It [the resurrection] is a very difficult thing to understand. So you can’t just tell the linear story that way.”
Gibson spent nearly a decade developing the script alongside Randall Wallace (“Braveheart”) and his brother. Gibson adds the plan to split them into two films was always there:
“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. I don’t think it’s anything anyone would expect.”
Each of the two films is reportedly budgeted at around $125 million. Part One is set for May 6th 2027, followed by Part Two on May 25th 2028.
