Mel Gibson has shared new details about the forthcoming sequel to Passion of the Christ.
The Australian actor and director, whose 2004 religious epic prompted a storm of controversy upon release, opened up on the planned sequel during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience.
When podcast host Joe Rogan asked who would be playing Jesus, in the sequel set after the Christian icon’s resurrection, Gibson said he planned to bring back original star Jim Caviezel.
He claimed that the project would use digital de-ageing technology to make Caviezel appear 20 years younger.
Explaining that he hoped to begin filming the movie next year, Gibson, 69, said: “There’s a lot required because it’s an acid trip. I’ve never read anything like it.”
The film will be titled The Resurrection of the Christ, and will be filmed from a script written by Gibson, Braveheart writer Randall Wallace, and Gibson’s brother Donal.
He added that the story contains “some crazy stuff”.
“I think in order to tell the story properly you have to really start with the fall of the angels, which means you’re in another place, you’re in another realm. You need to go to hell,” he added.
When it was first released in cinemas, Passion attracted criticism for its extreme violence and allegedly antisemitic messaging.
It was, however, a huge hit at the box office, accumulating over $600m (£463m) in total worldwide receipts.
This week, Gibson also revealed that his house had burnt down in the wildfires currently sweeping through California.
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“I thought ‘I wonder if my place is still there’, but when I got home, sure enough, it wasn’t there,” he told NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas Reports.
“I’ve never seen such a complete burn. It is obviously devastating, it’s emotional. You live there for a long time, and you had all your stuff. I lived there for about 14, 15 years so it was home to me.
Gibson continued: “I had a lot of personal things there that I can’t get back – everything from photographs to files to just personal things that I had from over the years. That can all be replaced. These are only things. And the good news is that those in my family and those I love are all well, and we’re all happy and healthy and out of harm’s way.”
Keep up with the latest updates on the California wildfires here