'The Resurrection of the Christ' finds its new Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene and the entire main cast

Mel Gibson He found his new Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, Mary, Peter, and Pontius Pilate.

The Resurrection of the Christ –o The resurrection of Christ in our region – a sequel to the acclaimed The Passion of the Christ (2004), signed the Finnish actor Jaakko Ohtonen (The Last Kingdom) for the role of Jesus, and the Cuban Mariela Garriga (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning) like Mary Magdalene.

Ohtonen and Garriga replace Jim Caviezel y Monica Belluccirespectively.

And the replacements don't end there.

Other signings include the Polish Kasia Smutniak (Domina) replacing Maia Morgenstern as Maria; the italian Pier Luigi Pasino (The Law According to Lidia Poët) like Peter; and the Italian Riccardo Scamarcio (Modi) like Pontius Pilate.

Rupert Everett (My Best Friend’s Wedding) will appear in an important role for which no details have been given, Variety confirmed.

Production on the sequel began last week at Cinecittà Studios in Rome. In these same studios, Gibson filmed the original installment more than two decades ago. As previously announced, The sequel will be divided into two parts due to its extensive story (more information below).

In addition to Cinecittà, The resurrection of Christ It will be filmed in the ancient city of Matera, in southern Italy. Gibson is expected to “shoot the sequel in other old rural towns in southern Italy, such as Ginosa, Gravina Laterza and Altamura,” the outlet reported.

Regarding the change of the entire main cast, a source close to the production said:

“Due to the time in which it develops The Resurrection of Christ —three days after Christ's crucifixion on Good Friday—“it made sense to recast the entire movie. They would have had to do all that CGI work, all that digital work—rejuvenation and so on—which would have been very expensive.”

It had previously been announced that Gibson had plans to implement rejuvenation technology to get Caviezel to return to the skin of a Jesus at 33 years old. The actor is currently 57 years old. The tool is not new in Hollywood, as it has already been used in multiple projects, including Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Captain America: Civil Warthe drama Here by Robert Zemeckis, among others. In recent days it was revealed that those plans had been scrapped, and other actors were being sought.

The script of Resurrection is co-written by Gibson y Randall Wallace (Braveheart). Some reports indicate that both wrote up to six drafts of the script prior to the final one.

Regarding its possible plot, it is believed that the story will address “the descent of Christ into hell”, also known as the “torn of hell,” which in Christian theology refers to the period of time between Jesus' crucifixion and his resurrection. In Christ's descent into hell, He brought with Him the salvation of souls held captive there since the beginning of the world.

This descent is mentioned in the Apostles' Creed, where it is briefly said that “he descended into hell,” but the release to the dead is not specified.

Last May, during his participation at the Fan Expo Philadelphia, Gibson confirmed that the sequel The Resurrection of the Christ It will be divided into two filmssaying:

“It took me about eight years to write the script for the sequelif we can call it The Resurrection of Christ, because it is a very complex topic and almost impossible to understand. So necessarily It must be based on much of the history and theology of salvation..”

“To understand that, you have to start with the fall of the angels in the sky, right at the beginning… it's not one movie, it's two movies, because it's huge..”

The actor and filmmaker also addressed the complexities of putting together a project of this caliber precisely and in a non-linear path:

“It was very difficult to find and synthesize, why First you have to understand why it matters… You have to think: why is humanity so important in this process? Why do the great kingdoms of good and evil fight for the hearts, minds and souls of humanity? Why us? We're just a bunch of fucked up things. We are imperfect. You have to ask yourself: why are we important? Why are we making the sandwich? “All that enormous history.”

Until 2024, The passion of Christ It still held the record as the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time in the United States. It had a US box office opening of $83 million, and amassed a total of $370 million. Its global box office was more than $610 million, against a budget of $30 million.

Gibson's acclaimed film combined supernatural elements with the harrowing depiction of the crucifixion, drawing heavily on Catholic imagery and traditions.

Gibson and Bruce Davey's Icon Productions will produce the sequels.

Both films will be released in theaters in 2027. Part One will premiere on Good Friday March 26, 2027and Part Two, 40 days later, on Wednesday May 6, 2027.

They will be distributed by Lionsgate on US territory. The company distributed Gibson's most recent films, Hacksaw Ridge y Flight Risk.