LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The highly anticipated sequel to The Passion of the Christ is set to begin filming this spring. The film, The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection, will focus on the days immediately following Christ’s crucifixion.

Actor, director, and producer Mel Gibson is expected to begin production in the next few months, according to World of Reel.

While The Passion of the Christ depicted the heartbreaking and excruciating scenes of Jesus’ crucifixion, Resurrection will dive into the three days between his death and resurrection.

Jim Caviezel will once again portray Jesus. Also returning are Maia Morgenstern as the Blessed Virgin Mary, Christo Jivkov as the disciple John, and Francesco De Vito as the disciple Peter.

In 2016, Gibson revealed that he had been working on the project for several years when he spoke at evangelical pastor Greg Laurie’s Harvest Crusade in Southern California. 

“It’s called The Resurrection. Of course, that’s a very big subject and it needs to be looked at because we don’t want to just do a simple rendering of it — you know, read what happened,” he said.

Caviezel teased the project in 2020 during an interview with Breitbart when he said, “Mel Gibson just sent me the third picture, the third draft. It’s coming.”

“It’s called The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection. It’s going to be the biggest film in world history,” Caviezel said.

The Passion of the Christ brought in more than $612 million worldwide with a production budget of $30 million. This made it one of the most successful independent movies in history. It was the first R-rated movie in North America to gross so much. Despite being nominated for three Oscars at the 77th Academy Awards, it did not win any awards.