Passion of the Christ sequel to be released in two parts

Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ Sequel is to be released in two parts in 2027.

The Lethal Weapon star directed the 2004 original and he's been busy working on a follow-up - titled The Resurrection of the Christ - and it's now been revealed the film will be split in two and the movies will be released just 40 days apart with the first installment due on Good Friday on March 26, 2027 and the second following on Ascension Day on May 6, 2027.

The news was revealed in a post on Instagram which gave the release dates. Gibson is directing and Jim Caviezel - who played Jesus Christ in the original film - will be returning to the role for the next two movies alongside Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene.

Original cast members Maia Morgenstern and Francesco De Vito will also be returning.

Gibson has been working on the sequel for many years and back in 2022, he spoke about the difficulties he was facing in his attempts to bring the story to the big screen.

During an appearance on EWTN's The World Over YouTube show, he explained: "Well it's a huge subject, and it’s not a linear narrative so that in order to have it mean something and resonate for almost anybody that watches it ...

"You have to juxtapose the central event that I’m trying to tell with everything else around it in the future, in the past, and in other realms, and that’s kind of getting a little sci-fi out there.

"It's a big story, it's a difficult concept and it's taken me a long time to focus and find a way to tell that story and really delivers to someone who may not know anything about the central story ... "

Gibson went on to reveal he had two finished scripts and was struggling to choose between them. He added: "I've got two scripts ... so I got the pair of them and they're both good ...

"Plus you have to add your own mojo to it ... and there's a lot of material to draw from, believe me."

The movie star elaborated on his script issues during a live event with Jenni Falconer in October 2022, revealing one of the scripts is "very structured" and the other is "like an acid trip".

He explained: "It is such a massive undertaking that you can't do it lightly and you can't do it quickly. You have to really consider what you have to show in order to be poignant ... It's going to be a real jigsaw puzzle to do and I have two scripts. And one of them is very structured and a very strong script and more what you would expect.

"The other is like an acid trip because you're going into other realms and stuff. You're in hell. It's like you're watching the angels fall. It's crazy."

Gibson also addressed the issue of bringing back his lead actor Caviezel 17 years after making the first film, adding: "Nobody else [could play that part] ...

"It's going to be a Rip Van Winkle kind of thing. Three days later, look he's got wrinkles. You can fix that stuff now.