Randall Wallace, a longtime collaborator with Mel Gibson, has revealed the dark spiritual warning the two-time Oscar winner gave him before he began writing the sequel to The Passion of the Christ.
The 76-year-old screenwriter, who previously collaborated with the 70-year-old director and actor on 1995’s Braveheart, 2002’s We Were Soldiers and 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge, co-wrote the screenplay for The Resurrection of the Christ with Gibson and his brother Donal Gibson.
During a recent appearance on Raymond Arroyo’s “Arroyo Grande” show, Wallace recalled how he urged Gibson to tell a resurrection story after the huge success of “The Passion of the Christ.”
“Mel didn’t approach me. I actually approached him,” Wallace said of how they began working together on “The Resurrection of Christ.”
“That’s not to say that over the years, he hasn’t thought many times about the resurrection,” Wallace continued. “In fact, in the original ‘Passion of the Christ,’ the original cut didn’t have the resurrection scene. It was getting comments from people saying, ‘We really want to see that.'”
Gibson ultimately decided to add the brief resurrection scene that serves as the finale to “The Passion of the Christ,” Wallace said.
In the clip, Jesus is shown rising and leaving the tomb, revealing the wounds on his hands before the film ends.
Wallace told Arroyo that he suggested developing a feature film depicting the resurrection while he and Gibson were on a promotional tour for Hacksaw Ridge in 2016.
“After I studied and became concerned about the resurrection, I thought about it many times,” Wallace recalls. “I had nothing to do with the movie ‘The Passion of the Christ.’” When we were promoting Hacksaw Ridge, we were sitting there talking about our lives, and I said: Look, you know, the story that really needs to be told is the resurrection.
Wallace went on to recount Gibson’s reaction to his suggestion, recalling that the director believed the project could invite spiritual warfare.
“There was a long pause, and he said something very nice,” Wallace recalls. “He said, ‘If we do this, it can’t be for the money, and it can’t be to get back at people who hated us or wronged us or were unhappy with us.'” “I said: Amen to that.”
“Then he said, ‘You know, the devil’s going to come after you,'” Wallace continued.
“I said, ‘Well, you know, the devil doesn’t really care about Baptists.'” It’s really good that the devil can get a Catholic. “We’re a dime a dozen,” he said as Arroyo laughed.
“Of course, I was being sarcastic, but I was also thinking…” Wallace continued.
“What if he’s right?” Arroyo interjected, saying:
“Well, yeah,” Wallace admitted.
“That’s what I would have thought,” Arroyo said.
“We had a lovely conversation about grace,” Wallace recalls.
Wallace told Arroyo that the conversation with Gibson marked the beginning of their collaboration on “The Resurrection of Christ.”
“I knew he had written ‘Passion,’ and I was very involved in writing it. And I said, ‘Look, let’s partner.’ I’ll write a draft, give it to you, and then we’ll start tearing it down and reviewing it. You do what you want, and I will do what I must. We’ll work together, we’ll work separately.'” “So we started out that way,” Wallace recalls.
Gibson previously said that he, Wallace and Donal spent approximately six to eight years writing and refining the screenplay for The Resurrection of the Christ, which will be split into two parts.
In May, Gibson announced that production on the sequel had been completed. “The Resurrection of Christ: Part 1” will be released on May 6, 2027, Ascension Day, the Christian holiday marking the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven 40 days after Easter. “The Resurrection of Christ: Part 2” is scheduled to premiere on May 25, 2028, during Memorial Day weekend.
In a press release, Gibson said the story played out on screen “exactly as I envisioned it.”
“I am so grateful to my incredibly talented cast and crew for pouring their hearts into this production. Together, we have created something powerful,” Gibson said.
He added: “This film represents a huge part of my life’s work, and it has taken everything of me as a director and artist. This is much more than just a film for me. It is a mission I have undertaken for more than 20 years to tell what I believe is the most important story in human history.”
“The Passion of the Christ,” which premiered in February 2004, depicted the last 12 hours of Jesus’ life before the crucifixion. Its graphic violence and subject matter made it one of the most controversial films of that year.
The film was a smash hit, grossing over $610 million worldwide on a budget of $30 million. It also received Academy Award nominations for makeup, score, and cinematography.
While speaking with Arroyo, Wallace asked what audiences can expect from the long-awaited sequel.
“His unique view of the spiritual world is truly special,” Wallace said of Gibson.
He continued, “The interesting thing is that in some ways — the final film — I want to keep it a secret about what’s going to happen.” “But the finished film, in some ways, will have elements that people haven’t seen before.”
“In fact, in many ways, it will be things no one has ever seen before,” Wallace added. “However, I think it will be, in some ways, the most uncompromising narrative. It will be the most consistent narrative about the general faith and the awe and the mystery that Christians experience when they experience the resurrection.”