Mel Gibson working on sequel to 'The Passion of the Christ'

The Passion of the Christ 2 is in the works as director Mel Gibson and writer Randall Wallace are teaming up for a sequel to the 2004 Biblical blockbuster. The new film will tell the story of the resurrection of Jesus.

Randall confirmed rumours that he has begun to write a script for the sequel as the project is becoming too difficult to keep under wraps.

Gibson and him began to get serious about a sequel to The Passion, while they're working on Hacksaw Ridge, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Randall, who was a religion major at Duke University, says the resurrection was a specialty of his. "I always wanted to tell this story. The Passion is the beginning and there's a lot more story to tell."

According to Randall, the demand in the Christian community influenced Gibson and his willingness to do another film. "The evangelical community considers The Passion the biggest movie ever out of Hollywood, and they kept telling us that they think a sequel will be even bigger," he said.

No studio or financial backing has been lined up for the project, but Randall says some financers are interested in investing. "It's too early to talk money. This is such a huge and sacred subject."

Gibson's representative hasn't commented on his involvement on The Passion sequel.

The Passion of the Christ, starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus Christ, earned a whopping US $612 million worldwide on a US $30 million production budget. It is the highest grossing religious film, the second highest-grossing R-rated film in the US and the highest grossing non-English-language film of all time. It also received three nominations at the 77th Academy Awards.