More than two decades after The Passion of the Christ shocked Hollywood and audiences worldwide with its gore and violence — as well as its huge box office — Mel Gibson has finally started filming his long-delayed sequel, and this time, there’s a new face playing Jesus. Finnish actor Jaakko Ohtonen, best known for his role as Wolland in Netflix’s The Last Kingdom, will step into the role originally portrayed by Jim Caviezel. Production quietly began last week at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios, the same location where Gibson shot the 2004 original.
Variety is reporting that Gibson and his team decided to completely recast the movie rather than rely on costly de-aging effects, since the sequel picks up just three days after Christ’s crucifixion. “It made sense to recast the whole film,” the source explained. “They would have had to do all this CGI stuff — de-aging and all that — that would have been very costly.”
Alongside Ohtonen, Mariela Garriga (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning) will play Mary Magdalene, Kasia Smutniak (Domina) replaces Maia Morgenstern as Mary, and Pier Luigi Pasino (The Law According to Lidia Poët) joins as Peter. Riccardo Scamarcio (Modì) will take over the role of Pontius Pilate, while Rupert Everett is confirmed for a small but “important” role.
What Is ‘The Resurrection of the Christ’ About?
Gibson has described the sequel’s tone as “an acid trip,” written with his Braveheart collaborator Randall Wallace, teasing that he’s “never read anything like it.” The two-part story will focus on Christ’s resurrection and its spiritual and political fallout. Speaking with ScreenRant, Gibson framed the sequel as something more expansive—more philosophical, and potentially massive in scope.
“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.”
Gibson is producing alongside Bruce Davey through Icon Productions, with Lionsgate distributing. The project, officially titled The Resurrection of the Christ, will be released as two films — Part One arriving on Good Friday, March 26, 2027, and Part Two on Ascension Day, May 6, 2027.
via Collider