Following the success of his mind-blowing blockbuster, The Passion of the Christ, renowned and controversial film producer, Mel Gibson, is set to release another biblical epic movie, The Resurrection of the Christ.

Released in 2004, The Passion of the Christ was not merely another Hollywood production about Jesus Christ. It turned out to be a cultural, spiritual, and commercial phenomenon that challenged industry assumptions and rewrote box-office records.

Ahead of the release of The Resurrection of the Christ, The Passion of the Christ is set to return to the cinemas to prepare viewers for the release of the second epic biblical movie.

In a podcast interview with Raymond Arroyo, looking at the impact of the first movie and The Resurrection of the Christ, the acclaimed film producer and actor said the gruesomeness of what Christ went through was largely played down in previous movies on His passion prior to The Passion of the Christ.

“I just wanted to make it as real as possible for people to enter into that journey, which was pretty grueling. And previous depictions of it were pretty much sanitised and made it look easy, and it wasn’t.

“So, I wanted to emphasise it. In fact, He (Christ) didn’t want to do it” Gibson said, referring to the struggle within Him whether to go to the Cross as the will of God demanded or not.

Gibson said his effort is touted to have reignited interest in faith-based biblical filmmaking because, “people wanted it. There was a hunger for it and they went to see it in droves.”

Gibson said he captured the violence in the film the way he did to show that what Christ went through was not “half-baked” but a true account of His suffering as a sacrificial Lamb.

On why he had to go beyond The Passion of the Christ, which many believe is the climax of the story of Jesus’ sacrifice, Gibson said His death was not the climax, though it was a big event.

“The really astounding part of it is that, someone says ‘I’m back to life in His own strength and power from public death’, and people see Him.”

He maintained that the biggest part of the story is when He came back. “And He is coming back again,” he said, referring to the physical return of Jesus Christ to the world.

Asked whether he has become spiritually different on account of the movies, Gibson said: “Yea, you have to be. I mean, it’s like one doesn’t play and act on sand without getting sand on him.”

Explaining the idea behind The Resurrection of the Christ, Gibson said: “Metaphysically speaking, it takes a pretty broad trip to our own broken world and other realms of stuff with different natures and connects all of them.”

He describes the project as monstrous and massive undertaking. “How can one not be changed by just being involved in that?” he asked.