‘The Passion of the Christ’ to Make a Return to Theaters

‘New Restoration’

The Mel Gibson-directed 2004 blockbuster hits theaters in September, ahead of his sequel, Resurrection of the Christ: Part One

Mel Gibson’s 2004 blockbuster The Passion of the Christ is returning to theaters in September, ahead of the director-actor’s follow-up, The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One.

The rerelease will be in theaters from Sept. 10 to Sept. 17, and it has been remastered with 4K resolution. Its return to movie houses serves as a precursor to Gibson’s sequel, which will arrive in theaters beginning May 6, 2027, via Lionsgate. The new film will be executive-produced by Cedar Hill and by Mike Ilitch Jr. Productions, The Hollywood Reporter notes.

The Passion of the Christ became the highest-grossing Christian film and the highest-grossing independent film of all time. In January 2025, Gibson discussed his plans for a sequel with Joe Rogan on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, saying he had been working on co-writing the follow-up with his brother and the screenwiter Randall Wallace over a seven-year period.

“My brother and I and Randall all sort of congregated on this,” the actor said. “So there’s some good heads put together, but there’s some crazy stuff. And I think in order to really tell the story properly you have to really start with the fall of the angels, which means you’re in another place, you’re in another realm. You need to go to hell. You need to go to Sheol.”

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He also confirmed to Rogan that he planned to recast Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, and described the upcoming film as “very ambitious.”

“Bringing it back to theaters in a stunning new restoration allows longtime audiences to experience it in an entirely new way while inviting a new generation to discover it in theaters for the very first time,” Kevin Grayson, president of worldwide distribution for the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said in a statement on Wednesday. “This also marks the beginning of the journey toward The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One, one of the most ambitious and anticipated faith films ever brought to the screen.”