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Mel Gibson Announces ‘Passion Of The Christ Sequel,’ May Resurrect Career Too?

By Jinger Jarrett
Published on: 02:25 PST, Jun 12, 2016

Actor and director Mel Gibson announced his sequel to his blockbuster film, The Passion of the Christ. Although the film was a blockbuster, it was snubbed by the Academy Awards in favor of Million Dollar Baby, and some Jewish people protested the movie, claiming it was anti-semitic. In spite of the controversy, the movie was a blockbuster success, with churches buying out entire movie theaters, while The Passion of the Christ grossed over $612 million worldwide.

The Times of Israel reported that the sequel will focus on the resurrection of Jesus, and it has evangelical support. Randall Wallace, who wrote the screenplay for Braveheart, will write the new script. He said he was excited about working on the project.

“I always wanted to tell this story. The Passion is the beginning and there’s a lot more story to tell. 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.”

Mel Gibson and Randall Wallace are currently working on the new script, which is in the early stages. The amount of funding for the new movie hasn’t been revealed. The first Passion of the Christ cost $30 million to make. It was revealed that with the script in its early development, and without a studio, it’s too early to tell how much the movie will cost to make and what the budget will be. The original screenplay was written by Benedict Fitzgerald, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mel Gibson. Fitzgerald’s previous writing credits include a television screenplay of Moby Dick in 1978, and Wise Blood in 1979.

Jews criticized Gibson for both the amount of violence in the movie as well as claiming that the movie was anti-semitic because of the active role Jews played in calling for the crucifixion of Jesus. The high priests in the movie are also actively seen pushing for a reluctant Pontius Pilate to crucify Jesus.

Vanity Fair reported that The Passion of the Christ sequel may be an attempt to resurrect Mel Gibson’s career. The rumors of the sequel began last month when Gibson made some vague comments while attending Liberty University’s graduation ceremony. Randall Wallace later confirmed the project and said that a script was in the works.

The Passion of the Christ was the last movie Mel Gibson made before he started having personal troubles. In 2006, Gibson had a highly publicized Hollywood DUI. During his arrest, Gibson made inflammatory and anti-semitic remarks that were later publicized.

High profile studio heads called for a boycott of Mel Gibson, and accusations of domestic violence by his then domestic partner, Oksana Grigorieva, only added to his troubles. The Daily Mail reported that Gibson and Grigorieva had a nasty split in 2010, and Gibson was required to pay her a settlement.

In a recent court battle, the judge ruled that he would not have to pay her the remaining $375,000 that was part of the settlement. Terms of the original settlement said that Grigorieva was not allowed to speak of the split with Gibson or about Gibson.

Mel Gibson, who is 58, currently has a net worth of $800 million. Grigorieva, 43, has a four-year-old daughter with him, and it was unclear how she planned to continue to support herself and her daughter after the payments from the settlement stopped. She gave an interview with Howard Stern, and although she said little about Gibson, it was enough for the judge to rule against her.

[Photo via Studio]

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