It looks like Mel Gibson has found his new cast for The Resurrection of the Christ. More than two decades after his controversial The Passion of the Christ broke box office records, Gibson is now back with a two-part sequel, and has found his replacement Jesus in Finnish actor Jaakko Ohtonen (The Last Kingdom). This comes after it was revealed that, due to the length of time between the movies, the role previously played by Jim Caviezel – and other prominent roles – would all be recast in the new movie.
Taking over from Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene will be Cuban actress Mariela Garriga, who previously appeared alongside the all-star cast in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning. Kasia Smutniak is replacing Maia Morgenstern as Mary, while Pier Luigi Pasino will take over the role of Peter. Pontius Pilate role will be played by Riccardo Scamarcio, star of the Johnny Depp-directed Modi: Three Days on the Wings of Madness. Rupert Everett is also joining the cast in a role that has not been revealed, but is said to be “small but important.”
As per previous reports, filming began in Rome, Italy, last week. While it was originally believed that Caviezel and others would be reprising their roles in the movie, just prior to the start of shooting, it was announced that Gibson was scouting for a whole new cast, as the cost of de-aging the original actors, and other constraints made it impossible to bring the stars of the first movie back after 20 years.
Why It Took Two Decades To Make a Sequel To ‘The Passion of the Christ’
Newmarket Films
Although talk of a sequel to The Passion of the Christ has been circulating for years, the idea of it actually happening became less and less likely as time wore on. Back in May, Gibson explained why it had taken him so long to return to his most controversial directorial effort.
“It took me about eight years to write the script for the sequel, if we can call that The Resurrection of [the] Christ, because it’s a very complex and almost impossible to understand subject, so that necessarily you have to underpin it with a great deal of all of salvation history and theology.
It was a very difficult thing to find and synthesize, because you have to understand, firstly, why it matters… You have to think, why is mankind so important in this process? Why are the big realms of good and evil slugging it up for the hearts and minds and souls of mankind? Why us? We’re just a bunch of f***ed up things. We’re imperfect. You have to ask yourself, why are we important? Why are we making the sandwich? That whole huge story.
And I think in order to understand that, you have to, you have to start with the fall of the angels in the firmament, before, right at the beginning, it is a pretty crazy idea, what did that look like? I know what it looks like. It’s not one film, it’s two films, because it’s massive.”
The Resurrection of the Christ will be split into two films, with each part set to release in 2027.
Release Date
March 26, 2027
Writers
Randall Wallace, Donal Gibson
Producers
Jim Caviezel
