Mel Gibson Planning 'Passion of the Christ' Sequel

Courtesy of Photofest

By Paul Bond

'Braveheart' screenwriter Randall Wallace says he is writing a follow-up to the biblical blockbuster that will focus on the resurrection of Jesus.

(The Hollywood Reporter) Mel Gibson and writer Randall Wallace are working on a sequel to The Passion of the Christ that will tell the story of the resurrection of Jesus, Wallace tells The Hollywood Reporter.

Wallace, nominated for an Academy Award for scripting Gibson's 1995 best picture Oscar winner Braveheart, on Thursday (reluctantly) confirmed rumors that he has begun to write a script for a story about the resurrection, telling THR that the project is becoming too difficult to keep under wraps.

Wallace, who most recently directed and co-wrote the 2014 faith-based drama Heaven Is for Real, says he and Gibson began to get serious about a sequel to The Passion, the most successful independent film of all time, while making Hacksaw Ridge, which Gibson directed and Wallace co-wrote. Hacksaw Ridge opens in November and centers on World War II Army medic Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. br>
Wallace was a religion major at Duke University and says the resurrection was a specialty of his. "I always wanted to tell this story," he says. "The Passion is the beginning and there's a lot more story to tell."

A rep for Gibson declined to comment on the filmmaker-actor's involvement in a Passion sequel.

The Passion, Gibson's story of the persecution and crucifixion of Jesus, was released in 2004 by the independent Newmarket Films and earned a whopping $612 million worldwide on a $30 million production budget. Since then, many in Hollywood have presumed a sequel would someday be made, but Gibson has moved on to other projects.

Rumors swirled anew last month when Gibson was a surprise guest at Liberty University's graduation ceremony to do an advance screening of Hacksaw Ridge and was asked about a Passion follow-up. He expressed interest in making a sequel but was not specific about his involvement. Wallace says demand in the Christian community influenced his and Gibson's willingness to do another film.

"The evangelical community considers The Passion the biggest movie ever out of Hollywood, and they kept telling us that they think a sequel will be even bigger," Wallace says.

No studio or financial backing has been lined up for the project, which is still in the early script stage. But Wallace indicates there are several financiers interested in investing. "It's too early to talk money," he adds. "This is such a huge and sacred subject."

In February, Sony released Risen, which tells the story of the resurrection, though Gibson wasn't involved. The movie made $46 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.

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• Mel Gibson Planning 'Passion of the Christ' Sequel (Exclusive)

‘The Passion’ producer says American Carol movie part of ‘emerging culture war’

Hollywood, Oct 3, 2008 / 03:48 pm (CNA).- Steve McEveety, producer of "The Passion of the Christ," has written a letter encouraging people to see the new movie "An American Carol," comparing buying tickets for the movie to casting a vote in the “emerging culture war.” American Carol producer John Shepherd explained to CNA that the movie is meant to make Hollywood question its animosity towards conservatives.

“In the coming weeks your vote is going to play a crucial role in the battle for the hearts and minds of all Americans -- and it is not your vote in the Presidential election,” he writes.

Claiming Hollywood is “holding an election” in which a vote is the price of a movie ticket, he tells readers “your participation is key to the emerging culture war.”

He says the conflict presently centers on two films released on Friday, October 3.

McEveety describes the first movie, comedian Bill Maher’s “Religulous,” as a “militant pro-atheism documentary.”

He also cites Maher’s own anti-religious words: “We are a nation that is unenlightened because of religion. I do believe that -- I think religion stops people from thinking. I think it justifies crazies.”

McEveety contrasts the film with David Zucker's “An American Carol,” calling the latter a “pro-America, pro-faith comedy.”

He describes Zucker’s movie as “a film that celebrates America as a country founded on the principles of faith. If you are one of the so-called ‘religious’ crazies who wants to be heard LOUD and CLEAR by Hollywood -- come out to the theater on October 3rd and buy a ticket for An American Carol.”

Movie producer David Zucker, who is Jewish, described his motives for making the film to the Chicago Tribune.

Saying he was tired of Christian-bashing in pop culture, and Catholic-bashing in particular, he described one satirical scene inspired by celebrity Rosie O’Donnell’s comments that radical evangelicals were as dangerous as Islamic terrorists.

"We do a whole routine where Rosie shows a documentary to Bill O'Reilly about 'the truth about radical Christians,' where they're going on planes, hitting the pilots with their crosses and Bibles, and we have a nun blowing up a bus – all these crazy things.

"I loved doing that scene," Zucker told the Chicago Tribune.

In an email to CNA on Friday afternoon, American Carol producer John Shepherd Zucker described the O’Donnell scene as a use of “hyperbole, exaggeration and satiric humor to illustrate a point.”

“Yes sometimes the comedy is shocking and embarrassing. But so was the little boy who blurted out "the Emperor's not wearing any clothes!" Shepherd said.

For Shepherd, “An American Carol” is an attempt to prod Hollywood into seeing how intolerant it has become. "It used to be that Hollywood was a two party town, a ‘tolerant’ town... and one could have a heated debate about politics or religion and still part company as friends. Anymore I find that if you are a person of faith, or a conservative, or God forbid, both (!), you are dismissed as a fanatic or irrelevant,” he told CNA.

The Hollywood producer related how reading the script for Zucker's satire was a relief from the caustic environment he has come to find himself in lately. “I found myself laughing at the extreme views to which we all hold. And I found his point of view refreshing, and ideologically cathartic!”

Shepherd hopes that the film will go beyond just a good laugh though. In the end, he hopes that “An American Carol” will allow Americans to “engage one another once again in a heated and spirited debate about the things that are really important in life – God, family, country.”

“After all,” commented Shepherd, “in the end, we're still one Nation, under God — with liberty and laughter for all!"

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