Is A 'Passion Of The Christ' Sequel Happening?

Mel Gibson's biblical blockbuster The Passion of the Christ came out roughly 12 years ago, and now, after almost a decade, it's finally time for the second part of the story. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Braveheart screenwriter Randall Wallace and Gibson are planning a follow-up to the 2004 film that will recount the resurrection of Jesus. Meaning, whereas Passion chronicled the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus, The Passion of the Christ sequel will pick up where it left off.

While Passion was both highly controversial and monetarily successful, there's no way to tell if the sequel will follow the same path. The original The Passion of the Christ, starred Jim Caviezel as Jesus, Maia Morgenstern as Mary, and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalen. It was a major box office hit (Box Office Mojo reports a domestic lifetime gross of over $370 million) and a large part of the conversations surrounding film and religion that year.

Wallace has just recently confirmed that he's started on the script (THR reported that Wallace was "reluctant" to confirm rumors, but the project was becoming "too difficult to keep under wraps,") so there's no word yet on whether or not the actors and actresses from the original will be returning. Since it was 12 years ago though, I'm guessing will more than likely be an all new cast.

Wallace received an Academy Award nomination for Braveheart's script back in 1995. Recently, Wallace co-wrote and directed a different faith-based movie Heaven is for Real. According to THR, Wallace holds a specific interest in sharing stories of religion with the world, and even more so, adapting them for the big screen. "The Passion is the beginning and there's a lot more story to tell," the writer and director said.

As no surprise, the Christian community has been a big supporter of a Passion sequel. Wallace added, "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." Only time will tell if that's true — as The Passion was pretty big, it's hard to imaging it can be topped. Then again, with the kind of following the first one had, never say never. The film has no release date or studio attached to it yet.

Images: Columbia Pictures