A dark, spiritual warning is being revealed by Randall Wallace, co-writer of Mel Gibson’s “The Resurrection of the Christ,” the sequel to the 2004 epic hit “The Passion of the Christ.”
While appearing recently on Raymond Arroyo’s podcast “Arroyo Grande,” Wallace said he first suggested the notion of a full-length film focusing on what happened after Jesus rose from the grave while he and Gibson were promoting “Hacksaw Ridge” in 2016.
“Having studied the resurrection and being so consumed by it, I thought about it many times,” Wallace said.
“I didn’t have anything to do with ‘The Passion of the Christ.’ When we were promoting ‘Hacksaw Ridge,’ we were sitting there talking about our lives, and I said, ‘Look, you know, the story that you really need to tell is the resurrection.'”
Wallace recounted how Gibson thought the production could invite spiritual warfare.
“There was this long pause, and he said something profoundly beautiful. He said, ‘If we do this, it can’t be for the money, and it can’t be to get back at people that have hated us or wronged us or been unhappy with us,'” Wallace indicated. “So amen to that.”
“Then he said, ‘You know, Satan’s going to come after you,'” Wallace added.
“I said, ‘Well, you know, Satan doesn’t really care about Baptists.’ It’s really good when Satan can get a Catholic. We’re a dime a dozen,” he said as Arroyo laughed.
“And of course, I was being facetious, but I was also thinking …” Wallace continued.
“What if he’s right?” Arroyo interjected.
“Well, yeah,” Wallace said.
“That’s what I would be thinking,” Arroyo said.
“We had this great conversation about grace,” Wallace remembered.
WATCH:
“Braveheart” screenwriter Randall Wallace says Mel Gibson warned him about collaborating on “The Resurrection of the Christ”: “Satan’s going to come after you.”
“If we do this, it can’t be for the money and it can’t be to get back at people that have hated us or wronged us or… pic.twitter.com/bdcbiFMxSP
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) July 16, 2026
Wallace noted how the original ending of “The Passion” did not even include Jesus coming back to life after His execution.
“In fact, in the original ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ the original cut didn’t have the resurrection scene. He was getting feedback from people saying, ‘We really want to see that.'”
Gibson eventually decided to add the brief resurrection scene to conclude “The Passion” on an uplifting note.
WATCH THE ENDING SCENE OF ‘THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST’:
As WorldNetDaily reported in May, Gibson wrapped up filming for “The Resurrection of the Christ,” saying the two-part sequel turned out “exactly as I envisioned it.”
“I’m deeply grateful to my incredibly talented cast and crew for pouring their hearts into this production. Together, we created something powerful,” said Gibson.
“This film represents a major part of my life’s work, and it has demanded everything of me as a filmmaker and as an artist. This is far more than a film to me. It’s a mission I’ve carried for over 20 years to tell what I believe is the most important story in human history.”
Appearing on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Gibson said the new “Resurrection” films would dive into “the spiritual realms” and the fight for the “soul of mankind.”
“There’s good, there’s evil, and they are slugging it out for the souls of mankind,” he said. “And my question is, ‘Why are we even important, little old, flawed humanity? Why are we important in that process where the big realms are slugging it out over us?'”
Gibson also told Rogan he believes Jesus’ resurrection is a factual event.
“I regard the gospels as history, as verifiable history,” he explained. “Some people say, ‘Oh, it’s a fairy tale. He never existed.’ But He did.
“And there were other accounts, verifiable, historical accounts outside the biblical ones that also bear this up that yes, He did exist. And the other aspect of that is that all the evangelists, the apostles who went out there, every single one of those guys died rather than deny their belief. And nobody dies for a lie. Nobody.”
Rogan noted: “The resurrection is the one that is the most difficult for people to swallow. That is the one that requires the most faith.”
Gibson responded: “Who gets back up three days later after He gets murdered in public? Who gets back up under His own power? Buddha didn’t do that s***.”
WATCH:
Mel Gibson told Joe Rogan he fully believes the resurrection of Jesus was a real, historical event—not just a matter of faith, but fact.
He said the Gospels are more than just spiritual writings—they’re history.
He pointed out that the Apostles, who all died for their beliefs,… pic.twitter.com/CDpWYIyfno
— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) April 20, 2025
The filming concluded ahead of schedule after shooting for 134 days at locations across Italy, including Rome, Bari, Ginosa, Craco, Brindisi and Matera.
Finnish actor Jaakko Ohtonen plays Jesus in the new films, taking over the lead spot from Jim Caviezel, who had originally been cast to reprise his “Passion” role. But reports cite scheduling conflicts and the challenges of de-aging technology as reasons for the casting swap.
As WorldNetDaily previously reported, Caviezel had said of Gibson’s sequel: “I’ll tell you this much, the film he’s going to do is going to be the biggest film in history. It’s that good.”
Mariela Garriga will portray Mary Magdalene, taking over the role from Monica Bellucci.
The studio also announced the epic will be released in two parts, with “Part One” released on May 6, 2027 (Ascension Day 2027), and “Part Two” coming on May 25, 2028 (Ascension Day & Memorial Day Weekend 2028).
“The Passion of the Christ” debuted to an opening weekend of $83 million on its way to taking in $370 million in North American theaters and more than $610 million globally off a $30 million production budget, making it the top-grossing independent movie of all time.
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Jim Caviezel: New ‘Passion of the Christ’ to be ‘biggest film in history’
