We watched fabled religious figure Jesus of Nazareth die a gory death in the original Passion of Christ, but now Mel Gibson wants us to witness the aftermath
Biblical movies used to make a killing at the box office and go on to rake in money long after that. In places all around the world, The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston still sees airplay during Christian religious holidays. Granted, Mel Gibson's original Passion of the Christ was gruesome and gory, but it was a fantastic hit at the box office. For a film that was made on a budget of a mere $30 million, it was able to gross more than $600 million worldwide.
Most of Hollywood prior to that outing of Gibson's film had written off ever seeing a biblical blockbuster, but Passion proved them wrong. Even though the film was done wholly in obscure languages like Latin and Aramaic with English subtitles, it still managed massive worldwide success. Now, Gibson intends to go further along with the source material with his second foray into the life of Christ with the second installment of Passion.
Passion Of Christ 2 is officially happening and it will be titled "Passion Of Christ: Resurrection". Mel Gibson spoke to the Outstanding Screenplays in April and said that The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection was coming soon. "You can't do it lightly and quickly. You have to really consider what it is that you need to show in order to be poignant," he said. "It can't be linear. You have to have many things to juxtapose against one another, even from different time periods, in order to illustrate what something means in a more full way. And I think it's going to be a real jigsaw puzzle to do."
"I have two scripts, and one of them is very structured and a very strong script, and kind of more what you'd expect, and the other is like an acid trip. Because you're going into other realms and stuff. I mean, you're in hell, and you're watching the angels fall. It's like, crazy," Gibson continued.
Jim Caviezel will reprise the titular role as Christ, with Maia Morgenstern as Mary. So far, we also know that Christo Jivkov will be playing John, and Francesco DeVito will be taking the role of Simon Peter. The rest of the cast is still undecided, but it'll only be a matter of time before the rest of the characters start filling in. Once we get a better picture of which roles will be featuring in this sequel, we may have a better idea of where the story is going.
Caviezel recently spoke about his return to playing Christ during an interview on the Shawn Ryan Show on YouTube.
He said: "I asked him [Mel Gibson] would you be ready to go in January? He said 'yeah, maybe.' I said 'how about the end of Fall?' He said 'Yeah, maybe.' So who knows... He's been on this for a long, long time. It will be the biggest film in history. It might be two films, maybe three, but I think it's two."
A lot of speculation is surrounding the plot of the movie. As it stands, we've already followed Jesus (Caviezel) as he makes his way to the cross and gets crucified and dies. Based on the activity of the first movie, however, it's very likely that we'll see something different from what's written in the Bible itself. Gibson has already teased clues about the movie, especially about it being another dry retelling of events. Instead, we're slated to see the story of Christ's resurrection, but also its impact on the people of the time.
Furthermore, Gibson went on to advise us that the villains we would be encountering would be "otherworldly." While Gibson has set the story geographically in Jerusalem, the places we will visit will be far-flung and distant from Judea. Gibson has stated that the account will follow the resurrection of Christ, making movie fans think that it'll walk with the disciples between the time of Jesus' death and his ascension.
Speaking with Raymond Arroyo in 2016, Gibson said how he planned for Passion of the Christ 2 to take place more in the spiritual realms between the death and resurrection of Jesus. He said: “It’s a tall order. It’s a vast theological experience …it gets pretty wild. It’s an acid trip.”
“It’s the never-ending …it keeps revealing itself more and more the further you get into it. Everything from the fall of the angels to, you know, it’s just crazy. It opens up all these channels.”
The original Passion Of Christ, while focusing on Jesus, was a gritty tale that put the deity within the "real world" of the time. Gibson's storytelling, especially when it comes to historical cinema, has been less than stellar. He goes for cinematic brilliance over historical accuracy. In many cases, however, it works out. The cinematography of The Passion Of Christ was exquisite, and despite its difference from what historical accounts and the Bible have said, the story was in many ways just that - a story about Christ's death. We should expect more of that with the second installment.
There's no trailer out yet, and we're probably going to have to wait until filming wraps up before we can start expecting one.
The film was previously rumored to release some time in 2021, but there has been no solid release date announced so far. A book titled ' The Gospel According to Mel Gibson: Fact, faith and fantasy in The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection' is set to release on June 21, 2024, and there were theories that its release date is connected to the sequel's debut. However, author Professor Helen Bond and Mel Gibson's rep clarified that the book's release date has nothing to do with the upcoming project.
"We know nothing of this book and [it] has nothing to do with any upcoming project. No updates [on Passion of the Christ 2]. Still in the development stage," the rep said via Express Uk.
There is still no release date for The Passion of the Christ 2 as of this update.
This article was recently reviewed and is up to date as of July 15th, 2023.
Disclaimer : The views expressed in this article belong to the writer and are not necessarily shared by trinikid.com
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