Work continues on Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ 2, and if the words of its writer are any indication, the film will be even more epic than we originally thought.
After more than 16 years, Gibson is still developing his sequel to The Passion of the Christ. The original movie, which showed the final hours of Jesus’ life and crucifixion, became a heated topic of debate for many years after its release. The excessive violence in depicting torture, an alleged anti-semitic agenda, and the movie’s allusion to Biblical accuracy all fanned the flames of controversy. Not that Gibson cared much about any of them, mind you. Now, after working his way to popularity again with Hacksaw Ridge, the director wishes to tackle several fundamental Christian notions like Hell and the fall of Angels in the sequel.
While we know that the follow-up has all the makings of a big project, writer Randall Wallace, who collaborated with Gibson on Braveheart, has claimed that it’ll be their most ambitious undertaking yet. In a recent interview, Wallace had the following to say about the progress being made on The Passion of the Christ 2.
“It’s something we talk about a lot,” He explained. “My major in college was religion, and I did a year seminary afterward. My major focus of study was the resurrection. That is the Mount Everest of movies and we are in discussions about it a lot. It’s a highly-charged one, so we keep our cards close to our chest.”
Of course, the actor behind Gibson’s Messiah, Jim Caviezel, had previously teased that The Passion of the Christ 2 will be a masterpiece as well, saying:
“It’s going to be a masterpiece. It’s going to be the biggest film in world history. I believe it will be based on what I feel in my heart. It’s so imperative in this time, these films can’t be made now. The films they make are Marvel Comics movies. You’ll see Superman. You won’t see Jesus… I got to play the greatest superhero there ever was.”
As of now, we don’t know much about the movie, other than the fact that it’ll involve Jesus’ resurrection from the grave. But since Gibson has always advocated filmmaking on a budget, it’ll be interesting to see how he plans to produce the biggest movie in history without relying too much on extravagant effects.