The Sequel to "The Passion of the Christ" to Launch Filming This Year

Mel Gibson will again direct and actor Jim Caviezel is to reprise his lead role as the Savior.

Jim Caviezel portrays the Jesus character in a scene from the 2004 hit film "The Passion of the Christ." Image: Icon Productions/screenshot from YouTube.

After more than two decades since The Passion of the Christ became the top-grossing Christian film of all time, it seems there is finally tangible progress toward making a follow-up. According to the head of Rome-based Cinecitta Studios, the production of the sequel - The Resurrection of the Christ - will begin this summer.

As Christian Film Blog reported earlier, Gibson himself stated at the beginning of this year that he was hoping to start filming next year. The Hollywood trade publication Deadline, however, now reports that the Italian production studio's CEO Manuela Cacciamani told the newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore that the new film from Gibson and his team will launch filming there "starting in August."

The original movie, which also filmed at Cinecitta Studios, generated a staggering $612 million in global ticket sales when it came out back in 2004, a number made all the more impressive considering it had a production budget of just $30 million. No word yet on the budget for this sequel, though it will no doubt be far higher. In addition to the work at Cinecitta, Variety magazine reports Gibson will also shoot scenes on location in the ancient Southern Italian town of Matera, among other places.