Despite intense pre-release skepticism and fears that its graphic intensity would incite division, the film went on to gross more than $610 million worldwide.
More than 20 years after shattering box-office expectations and redefining faith-based cinema, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ is returning to theaters nationwide.
The special theatrical re-release — running from Sept. 10 through Sept. 17 — comes at a pivotal moment, serving as the runway for Gibson’s long-anticipated, two-part epic follow-up: The Resurrection of the Christ.
Speaking exclusively with EWTN News host Raymond Arroyo on iHeart’s Arroyo Grande Show, Gibson reflected on the grueling, unsanitized portrayal of Jesus’ final 12 hours that made the 2004 original a cultural phenomenon.
“I just wanted to make it as real as possible for people to enter into that journey, which is pretty grueling,” Gibson shared. “Previous depictions of it had been pretty much sanitized, and they made it look easy, and it wasn’t. So I wanted to emphasize that this was not easy. In fact, he [Jim Caviezel] didn’t want to do it.”
For Arroyo, this is a full-circle moment, as he told the Register:
“Having been on the set for The Passion of the Christ and conducted the first interviews with Mel Gibson and Jim Caviezel in 2004 — and now to return to CInnechitta more than 20 years later for the shooting of The Resurrection — has been an incredible experience. Mel is a bold visionary, and no director has reimagined these biblical stories with more truth or inspired passion.”
Despite intense pre-release skepticism and fears that its graphic intensity would incite division, the film went on to gross more than $610 million worldwide. Rather than spawning hostility, Gibson noted the profound, life-altering spiritual impact the film had on audiences — citing extraordinary accounts of viewers converting, confessing to bank robberies, and, in one extreme case, confessing to a murder, after watching Christ’s sacrifice on-screen.
“There was a hunger for it, and they went to see it in droves,” Gibson told Arroyo, reflecting on the box-office success. “And then I think others realized that there was a place where they could share their visions. And then there was zeal amongst faith-based people and filmmakers to explore it further.”
Now, Gibson is preparing to helm what he sees as the true climax of the story. With The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One slated for May 6, 2027, and Part Two following on May 25, 2028, the director is promising a much larger cinematic spectacle to tackle the mystery of what followed the cross.
“It’s not the climax,” Gibson said of the Crucifixion. “It’s a part of it. And it’s a big event, for sure. But the really astounding part of it is that Someone can come back to life under their own strength and power from public death and then be public again after that.”
As Arroyo noted to the Register, “The Passion of the Christ moved generations of filmgoers and believers. The Resurrection will immerse them in dimensions of this story that no one has ever captured on-screen. I was honored to do the first interview with Mel as he edits the next chapters of this story only he could tell. And so happy he gave us a glimpse of what to expect.”
As moviegoers gather in theaters this September to reexperience the agony of Golgotha, Gibson’s vision is firmly set on the empty tomb — and the astounding triumph waiting on the other side.
