The 2004 epic “The Passion of the Christ” is back in theaters until September 17, a chance to revisit one of the 21st century’s most consequential films.
Newly remastered in 4K, the film does more than let audiences revisit Mel Gibson’s spiritual vision. The re-release offers a sneak peek at the follow-up, “The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One,” coming May 6, 2027. (The second installment will debut May 25, 2028.)
Jim Caviezel played Jesus in the original film, and while the title sparked some debate, including questions about the film’s hard R-rated violence, its cultural impact proved profound.
Filmmaker Randall Wallace (“Braveheart,” “We Were Soldiers”) has teamed with Gibson to co-write the two-part saga expanding on the Biblical telling.
Wallace wasn’t surprised by “The Passion’s” initial reception. The film became the highest-grossing R-rated film of the time, earning $370 million stateside and a whopping $610 million globally.
“The story of Jesus’ crucifixion had never before been told in that medium with such intensity and authenticity,” Wallace tells The Daily Wire of a film using Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin, not English. “The world was hungry for it.”
The film’s success paved the way for filmmakers to share faith-based narratives in an industry slow to acknowledge Christ-friendly crowds. Think “Jesus Revolution,” “The Case for Christ,” “I Can Only Imagine,” “War Room,” and “Sound of Freedom.”
Wallace learned firsthand the impact Gibson’s film had on fellow creators.
“I’ve gotten to know a number of young Christian filmmakers and have seen the work of several others, and to a person they have been inspired by the commitment and the quality Mel displayed in his work — just as I have been,” Wallace says.
The veteran filmmaker (“Secretariat,” “We Were Soldiers,” “Heaven Is for Real”) understands the pressure on him, Gibson, and Gibson’s brother and co-writer, Donal Gibson, for an encore.
“Only someone crazy would attempt it,” Wallace tells The Daily Wire with a knowing chuckle. He recalled a powerful conversation with a rabbi about faith, one that he connected to his Hollywood handiwork.
“Just let go and fall into the arms of God,” he recalls the rabbi saying. That “beautiful” explanation helped him keep the task at hand in perspective.
“You get overwhelmed by your own sense of importance,” Wallace adds.
That context didn’t make the creative process any easier, or shorter. It took nearly a decade to write the final script and Wallace is grateful to have had enough time to get it just right.
“We started really rooted in the Biblical story and began to look at it in all of the doors of inspiration,” he says of the process. “How do you tell a story about something that was literally mind blowing? You have to allow your own mind to be blown by the story. Mel is a master at that.”
Wallace understands on a personal level why patience matters in the creative process.
“I encountered the story of William Wallace 10 years before I had the courage to start writing it,” he says about the 1995 epic “Braveheart.” The film, which Wallace co-wrote, was his first of several creative collaborations with Gibson. “The story has to grow in me.”
Wallace says collaborating with Gibson on the “Resurrection” films had him writing an initial draft before sharing it with the Oscar winner for his input.
“He took my jumping off point and expanded it into ways I admire so much I can’t even tell you,” Wallace says.
Wallace and Gibson took great care in crafting the screenplay, but the films’ visual aesthetic proved vital, too. Wallace says Gibson drew on the work of classical artists (he won’t name names) to create both a visual template and a sense of the unexpected.
“Surprise the central currency of screenwriter … it’s when we become most alive and alert [as an audience],” he says.
That matters, since the next two installments in the “Passion” series capture the uncertainty of the key figures at the time.
“These people who grew so close to Jesus of Nazareth believed everything was over and they had deserted Jesus … then he was dead and they felt awful, and three days later they’re willing to risk death itself to say, ‘we’ve seen him and he’s alive,’” he says. “It’s the most surprising story we can imagine.”
Wallace says the second part of the two-part “Resurrection” saga is now in post-production. He calls the upcoming chapters “one big work,” but the individual films can still stand alone.
Films like “The Passion of the Christ” and, later, the TV series “The Chosen,” impacted audiences in profound ways, far more than simple box office receipts reflect. Some may have found their spiritual selves re-ignited by Gibson’s vision. Others may have found Christ for the first time.
“I hesitate to set my own expectations too high,” Wallace says of the “Resurrection” films. “You offer a hand to God, and whether He uses it is up to God. That’s the best we can do.”
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Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. He’s also the host of The Hollywood in Toto Podcast. Follow him at @HollywoodInToto.
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