Screenwriter and director Randall Wallace says Oscar-winning director Mel Gibson’s vision for THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST felt less like another Hollywood project and more like a calling.
“It was the calling of his life at that moment to help other people see what he had seen.” Wallace told The Christian Post that Gibson had a vision others could not yet see.
Wallace has watched Gibson chase big stories for more than three decades. He wrote BRAVEHEART, which Gibson directed and starred in, and the pair later worked together on WE WERE SOLDIERS and HACKSAW RIDGE.
Years after BRAVEHEART, the two were flying to the White House for a screening of WE WERE SOLDIERS when Gibson began talking about a movie centered on the final hours before Jesus’ crucifixion. Wallace immediately sensed a different weight in the conversation.
“What I understood most of all was how deeply…he related to the experience of Jesus on the cross,” Wallace said. “It was a sacred moment.”
That personal conviction shaped a movie that refused to treat Christ’s suffering as a distant religious idea. Wallace said Gibson brought audiences face to face with Jesus’ humanity, physical pain and love.
“Mel reminded us all that the crucifixion is a human historical event, full of pain and passion, and that pain and passion is met with love and hope,” he said.
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More than two decades later, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST is back on the big screen. Fathom Entertainment said the newly remastered 4K edition will play in theaters Sept. 10-17 and include a behind-the-scenes preview of THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHRIST: PART ONE.
The 2004 release paired that spiritual focus with rare commercial reach. Box Office Mojo records more than $370 million at the domestic box office and nearly $610 million worldwide, while the Academy lists three Oscar nominations for cinematography, makeup and original score.
Wallace believes Gibson raised the bar for faith-centered storytelling by bringing the same seriousness and craft that great artists have brought to biblical subjects for centuries. The screenwriter compared Gibson’s commitment to that of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.
Now Wallace is helping Gibson take on the story he considers even more daunting. He co-wrote the two-part THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHRIST, which moves beyond the crucifixion and into the central Christian belief that Jesus physically rose from the dead.
Gibson has said the new movies will travel into supernatural territory, including depictions of Hell, fallen angels and the origin of Satan. He told The Christian Post that he explored possibilities beyond the details recorded in the Gospels without wanting the speculation to conflict with orthodox teaching.
“There are plenty of people that believe Jesus was crucified, but…the idea that He physically rose from the dead, that He rose from the dead in anything like what we would call reality, is a way bigger proposition,” Wallace said.
That challenge came with a spiritual warning. As Movieguide® previously reported, Gibson told Wallace that Satan would come after him if he joined the project, and the collaborators agreed that money or settling old scores could not drive the work.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHRIST: PART ONE will open May 6, 2027, followed by THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHRIST: PART TWO on May 25, 2028. Wallace said the long process has brought Gibson “a kind of rising joy” as he tells the story he believes he was called to tell.
“He’s doing what he most loves doing, and doing the thing he knows he’s been called to do,” Wallace said. “And I believe angels watch us when we are in moments of grace.”
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