Mel Gibson Officially Defends ‘The Passion of the Christ’ Sequels’ Most Controversial Change

Mel Gibson has confirmed that both instalments of his long-awaited follow-up to The Passion of the Christ, titled The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One and Part Two, have finished principal photography and are now in post-production. Speaking at a Fan Expo Boston panel with Collider's Steve Weintraub, Gibson revealed the two films were shot simultaneously in Rome and warned that his depiction of the Resurrection will be unlike anything audiences expect, departing significantly from a straightforward, linear retelling.

Gibson explained that the project took shape over roughly 23 years, with the screenplay itself taking nearly a decade to write alongside Braveheart writer Randall Wallace and Gibson's brother. He said the story could not simply be told chronologically because it needed to be "juxtaposed" against other events to be believable, citing what he described as 17 secular historical accounts of the Resurrection alongside the biblical one. Gibson confirmed the two-part structure was built into the script from the outset rather than emerging in the edit, and that although distinct, the films are designed to complement one another.