Mel Gibson could be set to play the Avengers at their own game by splitting the sequel to the biggest box office hit of his career in two

Although you’re a lot more likely to find him on the VOD circuit at this stage in career, Mel Gibson was a certifiable box office draw at the height of his A-list powers, before he essentially torpedoed his mainstream credentials with some less-than-savory and highly-publicized incidents.

Despite starring in a string of critical darlings, high-earning blockbusters, and wildly popular smash hits, though, the single biggest box office hit of the two-time Academy Award winner’s career came as part of a movie where he didn’t even step foot in front of the camera.

Instead, his brutal biblical epic The Passion of the Christ stands tall as the top-earning entry in his entire filmography after hauling in a remarkable $612 million at the box office back in 2004, with talk of a sequel – or maybe more – bubbling away on the speculative back burner ever since.

Star Jim Caviezel hinted that Gibson was considering going full Fast & Furious by splitting the follow-up in two, and that might have proven to be right on the money after IMDb quietly updated the film’s title to The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection – Part I. Based on the success of the opener, the inarguable popularity of faith-based stories among a certain demographic, and Caviezel’s recent run as the frontman of Sound of Freedom, we could realistically be talking about a billion-dollar two-parter here.

The Avengers might require a pair of feature films to overcome their latest arch-nemesis in The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, but it would appear that the ongoing adventures of one Jesus Christ simply cannot be contained by a single story, either.