20 Years Later, Mel Gibson Finally Unveils a First Look at ‘The Resurrection of the Christ’

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Summary

  • Mel Gibson has unveiled the first look at The Resurrection of the Christ and announced updated release dates: Part One arrives May 6, 2027 and Part Two on May 25, 2028, both distributed by Lionsgate
  • Production wrapped after 134 days filming across Rome, Bari, Ginosa, Craco, Brindisi, and Matera in Italy, completing ahead of schedule, with Jaakko Ohtonen and Mariela Garriga replacing Jim Caviezel and Monica Bellucci as Jesus and Mary Magdalene

Mel Gibson has unveiled the first look at The Resurrection of the Christ, alongside news that both parts of the two-film biblical epic have been pushed back. Part One, previously set for March 26, 2027, now opens May 6, 2027. Part Two moves from May 2027 to May 25, 2028. Production has wrapped, Gibson says the film came out “exactly as he envisioned it,” and the first image of Jaakko Ohtonen as Jesus is now in the world.

The film has been in the works for over two decades. Its predecessor, The Passion of the Christ, arrived in theaters in 2004 and became one of the most improbable box office stories in cinema history. That film earned $610 million USD globally on a $30 million USD budget. It held the domestic record for the highest-grossing R-rated film for 20 years, until Deadpool & Wolverine cleared it in 2024. It was made outside the studio system, released through Newmarket Films, and required Gibson to mortgage his house to finance it. It is, by any reasonable measure, one of the most extraordinary commercial and cultural events in modern film history.

The Resurrection picks up where The Passion ended. Production ran for 134 days across six Italian locations — Rome, Bari, Ginosa, Craco, Brindisi, and Matera — finishing ahead of schedule, which for a two-part biblical epic is itself a statement of organizational seriousness. Jaakko Ohtonen steps into the role of Jesus, with Mariela Garriga as Mary Magdalene; Jim Caviezel and Monica Bellucci, who defined the original, do not return. Gibson has described the scripts, co-written with Randall Wallace, as an “acid trip” and said he “never read anything like” them — language that is either artistic hyperbole or a genuine signal that The Resurrection is not going to feel like an extension of The Passion’s visual and tonal grammar. Rupert Everett, Riccardo Scamarcio, Kasia Smutniak, and Pier Luigi Pasino round out the cast.

Gibson’s statement frames the project in terms that go well beyond filmmaking. “This is far more than a film to me,” he said. “It’s a mission I’ve carried for over 20 years to tell what I believe is the most important story in human history.” That register — conviction that reads as either visionary or difficult depending on your relationship to the subject — is exactly what produced The Passion of the Christ in the first place. 

The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One opens May 6, 2027. Part Two follows May 25, 2028.

 

 

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2026-05-22 11:57