Screenwriter Randall Wallace, who has worked with actor and director Mel Gibson on some of his major films, including "The Passion of the Christ," revealed during a recent interview that Gibson's upcoming two-part movie about the Resurrection emerged from a conversation the two had about the Protestant emphasis on Christ conquering death.
"We were having dinner one night, just the two of us in Dallas, and I said, 'You know, the thing we need to do is the Resurrection,'" Wallace said on the "Verité Vision" podcast that aired Tuesday.
"It's an interesting thing. Catholic friends have said, and I don't want to over-characterize anyone's particular practice, but in Catholicism, there's much more emphasis on the Crucifixion, on the Passion. One Catholic friend of mine said we almost never talk about the Resurrection," he said.
Wallace, a Baptist, contrasted the important symbolism of the crucifix in Roman Catholicism, which shows Jesus still on the cross, compared to the common Protestant depiction of the cross as empty.
"We need to tell that story," Wallace remembered telling Gibson as they were promoting their 2016 film "Hacksaw Ridge," which recounted the life of Desmond Doss, a devout Seventh-day Adventist from Virginia who served as a combat medic in World War II and survived, despite never firing a shot because he was a conscientious objector.
Wallace said Gibson "got really quiet for a moment" when he raised the topic of a film focusing on the Resurrection.
"Mel is absolutely brilliant, and I knew he was listening really intently," he said, adding that he offered to start working on the screenplay for the film, which he described as tackling "the Mount Everest of all stories."
Wallace said Gibson told him that he would have a Catholic mass said for Wallace after he floated the idea, and warned that he would be subject to spiritual attack if he decided to write about the subject.
Both Gibson and actor Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus Christ in the original film, have claimed that strange spiritual activity took place on set and that Caviezel briefly died after being struck by lightning on the cross.
"Satan's going to come after you," Wallace said, quoting Gibson. "And I said, 'Mel, Satan has so many Baptists, he doesn't even care about them.'" Wallace said he instead emphasized to Gibson that he would likely be the main target for spiritual attack, and told him he needed to be covered in prayer.
"It's beautiful when somebody wants to have a mass said for you, but he knew that it was the greatest challenge to really take on," said Wallace, who went on to explain that Gibson realized the importance of approaching the film with the right spiritual attitude.
"One of the things [Gibson] said to me was, 'This can't be for the money, it can't be to prove anything to anybody. [With] this, our hearts have to be pure,'" Wallace said.
"I knew, at that moment, how dedicated he was, and that this was really going to be a ride," he added.
"The Resurrection of the Christ," a two-part film slated for release in 2027 that Gibson co-wrote with Wallace, has been described by Gibson as "an acid trip" that will depict warfare in the spiritual realm. He has claimed he has "never read anything like" the scripts they wrote together. While plot details remain under wraps, the story will focus on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and its immediate aftermath.
"It's going to be unlike anything anyone has ever seen," Wallace said. "It will be a movie that will be mind-blowing. It may be something that is disturbing and haunting, but it will be unforgettable."
Filming on the project began in October, with Caviezel being replaced as Jesus by 36-year-old Finnish actor Jaakko Ohtonen.
In addition to Cinecittà's new Studio 22 in Rome, filming is also taking place in the ancient southern Italian city of Matera and other nearby locations, including Ginosa, Gravina, Laterza and Altamura. The 2004 original film grossed $610 million worldwide and became one of the highest-earning independent films in cinematic history.
