The Resurrection filming in Rome during Christmas

TORONTO – Perennially, Rome’s touristed streets break from their regular scheduling during December for more dedicated religious contemplation. Christmas trees and nativity scenes adorn iconic piazzas, setting the stage for the feast of the Immaculate Conception – as the city begins its month-long transformation.

To add to it all, Mel Gibson is in Rome currently shooting the most anticipated biblical film since his last independent blockbuster The Passion of the Christ.

The sequel, The Resurrection of the Christ, is currently being filmed at Rome’s Cinecittà with a cast that includes Pier Luigi Pasino as Peter, and Riccardo Scamarcio as Pontius Pilate.

But aside from its casting and the few vague descriptions Gibson has shared about the plot, much of the film is shrouded in secrecy. The director didn’t even make the script available for buyers at this year’s American Film Market – an uncommon move for a film in production.

The move may be connected to the fact that when the script for his first film was leaked in 2004, it caused a firestorm of controversy. Religious panels and conferences assembled, accusing the filmmaker of depicting Jews as the “blood thirsty” murderers of Christ.

The Anti-Defamation League and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops held discussions charging Gibson with sowing enmity and discord between Jews and Christians.

Gibson’s Passion project had generated so much heat that Twentieth Century Fox Studios, who had a first look deal with the director, passed on the film due to public protests. And when Pope John Paul II seemingly endorsed the film by saying “It is as it was”, his closest aide had to quell the backlash hurled at the Vatican. “The Holy Father saw the film privately in his apartment, but gave no declaration to anyone”, clarified Archbishop Dziwisz.

Irrespective of the furor from special interest groups and religious scholars, The Passion of the Christ went on to break box office records. It drew crowds from people who hadn’t been to a theatre in decades. Busloads of congregations from churches all over the world. With a reinvigorated Christian community in 2025 – and ca 2.5 billion Christians worldwide – Gibson’s sequel will likely be printing money.

“The reason I’m here [in Rome} is because creatively this is the best place to do it, this is the old world and you actually have real backdrops and there’s people here who worked on the last one, I mean maestros, so the crews and the artistry here is phenomenal”, Gibson explained in a recent interview online.

The American Director further explained his decision to shoot in Italy: “The reason I’m not in California…you can’t really get anything up and running there It’s very difficult, it’s cost prohibitive, it’s a lot of hoops to jump through and it’s not like it used to be”.

Images courtesy of ICON Productions