Mel Gibson's Resurrection film will be more than a Passion sequel

Mel Gibson directs actor Jim Caviezel in 'The Passion of the Christ.' 20th Century Fox

A sequel to Mel Gibson's 2004 blockbuster movie The Passion of the Christ will feature Christ's Resurrection and will be a huge undertaking, the actor says.

The Passion of the Christ shocked Hollywood with its success as a religious film using the Aramaic language spoken by Jesus. While it was widely praised for its historical accuracy and faithfulness to the biblical text, it was also controversial for the graphic violence of the scourging and crucifixion scenes.

In an interview with Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship during the SoCal Harvest event, Gibson told the 36,000-strong gathering that the new film would not be entitled The Passion 2 but The Resurrection. However, he stressed the concept was in its early stages.

"We're talking about that. Of course, that is a huge undertaking," he said. He added: "That's a very big subject, and it needs to be looked at, because we don't want to just do a simple rendering of it. I mean, we can all read what happened, but in order to really experience and explore probably deeper meanings of what it's about, it's gonna take some doing."

The script for The Passion of the Christ was written by Randall Wallace, who is expected to write The Resurrection as well. Gibson himself is expected to direct it.

The actor is a committed Christian and traditionalist Roman Catholic.

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