Why Mel Gibson Decided to Make THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST

Published: April 7, 2026

By Movieguide® Staff

Mel Gibson opened up about why he decided to make THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST.

“There’s a tendency for all of us to take that event and the extent of the sacrifice — take it for granted,” he said in a conversation with Pastor Greg Laurie for TBN’s PRAISE. “And filmically, particularly cinematically, I think it’s been sanitized a fair bit so that it becomes — I don’t know, ineffective, ineffectual, not emotional.”

Gibson continued, “I wanted to illustrate the extent of the sacrifice Christ made, so I felt that to do a film like that, and my own experience, contemplating over the years on the passion, my imagination soared. And there are readings on the matter that kind of brought home the dreadful reality of how bad it was.”

“And I just wanted to put that on film, to give people maybe a new look, and to sort of bring another theological perspective to it that perhaps they hadn’t thought of before,” he concluded.

In a 2004 ABC interview with Diane Sawyer, Gibson spoke about how his own struggles were behind his decision to make PASSION OF THE CHRIST.

“I think I just hit my knees,” he explained. “I just said, ‘Help.’ You know? And then, I began to meditate on it, and that’s in the Gospel. I read all those again. I remember reading bits of them when I was younger.”

Gibson added, “Pain is the precursor to change, which is great. That’s the good news.”

The actor is now revisiting the world of PASSION OF THE CHRIST; Gibson began production on a sequel to the hit movie in October of 2025. The sequel, titled THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHRIST, is expected to premiere in 2027.

In an episode of the “Intersections” podcast, screenwriter Randall Wallace shared, “We were having dinner one night, just the two of us in Dallas, and I said, ‘You know, the thing we need to do is the Resurrection.’”

“One of the things [Gibson] said to me was, ‘This can’t be for the money, it can’t be to prove anything to anybody. [With] this, our hearts have to be pure,’” he continued. “I knew, at that moment, how dedicated he was, and that this was really going to be a ride.”

Gibson’s work on THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST and its sequel are important ways to reach people all over the world with Jesus’ story of faith and sacrifice.

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