(CP) The sequel to "The Passion of the Christ" is set to begin filming this spring and will depict the days immediately following Christ's crucifixion.
World of Reel reported that actor, director and producer Mel Gibson is expected to begin production on the highly anticipated sequel "Resurrection" in the next few months.
"Gibson has been hard at work on the screenplay with 'Braveheart' screenwriter Randall Wallace," World of Reel added. "There have already been six drafts."
Unlike "Passion," which focused on the graphic crucifixion of Jesus Christ, "Resurrection" is expected to explore the three days between His death and resurrection.
"'Resurrection' would focus on the twenty-four hours encompassing Jesus' passion and the events that occurred three days between his crucifixion and resurrection," World of Reel added.
Jim Caviezel will reprise his role of Jesus, and Maia Morgenstern as Mary, Christo Jivkov as John, and Francesco De Vito as Peter.
As The Christian Post previously reported, Gibson, who spoke at Pastor Greg Laurie's Harvest Crusade in 2016, said he has been working on the project for several years.
Then, in 2020, Caviezel shared details about the second installment of the blockbuster hit, telling Breitbart News that he had received a new draft of "Resurrection."
"Mel Gibson just sent me the third picture, the third draft. It's coming," he told Breitbart News Daily at the time.
"It's called 'The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection.' It's going to be the biggest film in world history," he declared.
Despite its lack of industry support, the first film, released in 2004, earned a staggering $612 million worldwide with a production budget of just $30 million.
In the same Breitbart News Daily interview, Caviezel was asked if he had encountered politically-driven blacklisting following his portrayal of Jesus in "The Passion of the Christ."
"I had no choice. I had to defend it. I had to fight to survive. The film exploded. It was off the charts," Caviezel responded. "You'd think, 'Oh, you're going to work a lot.' No, I didn't. I was no longer on the studio list. That was gone. ... Because of what I do as an actor — that's my skill — it was given to me from God. I didn't give it to myself, but it's something in which I have a great range."
Caviezel went on to say that he held to his convictions because he believed his "faith was much bigger than the industry and Hollywood, and bigger than the Republican or Democratic Party or any of that."
Caviezel and Gibson haven't revealed any other details about the sequel, but in the past, the "Persons' of Interest" actor revealed minor details about the project following one of his conversations with Gibson.
"I won't tell you how he's going to go about it," Caviezel told USA Today in 2018. ... "But I'll tell you this much, the film he's going to do is going to be the biggest film in history. It's that good," the devoted Catholic said.
Gibson revealed the subject of the sequel in 2016, telling Stephen Colbert of "The Late Show" that the film might feature characters visiting other realms.
"It's not just some chronological telling of just that event. That could be boring, and you think, 'Oh, we read that,'" Gibson told Colbert of the sequel. "But what are the other things around it that happened?"
"It's a big subject," he told Colbert. "It's more than a single event, it's an amazing event. And to underpin that with the things around it is really the story, to enlighten what that means."
"The Passion of the Christ" was the first R-rated film ever in North America to gross so much. Although it received three Oscar nominations at the 77th Academy Awards, it didn't win any awards.
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