Mel Gibson Working on Sequel to ‘The Passion of the Christ’

Image by Getty Images

By Maia Efrem June 13, 2016

Twelve years after the contentious “The Passion of the Christ,” Mel Gibson is ready for a sequel.

Academy Award nominated “Braveheart” screenwriter, Randall Wallace, revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that he and Gibson are in the early stages of a follow-up to the 2004 film that will focus on Jesus’s resurrection.

“I always wanted to tell this story,” Wallace, who is penning the script, said to THR, adding, “The Passion is the beginning and there’s a lot more story to tell.”

“The Passion,” which focused on the the last day of Jesus Christ’s life, was controversial for playing into old anti-Semitic stereotypes and painting Jews as principal players in Christ’s death. Ahead of the film’s release, the ADL and the Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released a joint statement denouncing the film as presenting “Jesus as having been relentlessly pursued by an evil cabal of Jews…. This is precisely the storyline that fueled centuries of anti-Semitism within Christian societies.”

Earning $612 million worldwide on a $30 budget, the film was an undeniable financial blockbuster and, according to the National Catholic Register, remains the highest grossing religious film, the second highest-grossing R-rated film in the United States and the highest grossing non-English-language film of all time.

“The evangelical community considers ‘The Passion’ the biggest movie ever out of Hollywood, and they kept telling us that they think a sequel will be even bigger,” Wallace said, noting that though there’s interest, no studio or financial backers have been settled yet. “It’s too early to talk money, this is such a huge and sacred subject.”

Maia Efrem is the former research editor and assistant to the editor and was also responsible for the Forward’s annual Salary Survey. Previously she served as the editor of Blognik Beat, a blog written by students who emigrated from or have ties to the Former Soviet Union. Maia is a graduate of Hunter College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $325,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO