Posted on 10/14/2025 9:01:44 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
Mel Gibson’s “The Resurrection of the Christ,” his long-delayed follow up to 2004’s “The Passion of the Christ,” has cast Finnish actor Jaakko Ohtonen (“The Last Kingdom”) in the role of Jesus, replacing original star Jim Caviezel.
Mary Magdalene, a role held in “Passion” by Monica Bellucci, is being played in “Resurrection” by Cuban actress Mariela Garriga, who starred in the “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning” films as Marie. Polish-born actor Kasia Smutniak (“Domina”) is replacing Maia Morgenstern as Mary; Peter is being played by Italy’s Pier Luigi Pasino, who stars in Netflix Italy original “The Law According to Lidia Poët”; and the Pontius Pilate role will be played by Italy’s Riccardo Scamarcio, who recently led the Johnny Depp-directed biopic “Modì.” Rupert Everett will appear in an unspecified small but important role.
Shooting started last week at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios on the film, with its main ensemble having been entirely recast. More than 20 years ago, Gibson shot the original “Passion of the Christ” at Cinecittà, which became one of the largest-grossing independent films of all time with a worldwide box office of $610 million. As previously announced, “The Resurrection of the Christ” will be split into two films, with each part set to release in 2027.
(Excerpt) Read more at variety.com ...
Not that Viking is any more appropriate except to play a Roman soldier perhaps.
Same here. I know sometimes they're trying to represent Jesus as gentle and mild, but it often comes at the expense of making him look wimpy and anemic. A lot of the old holy cards were like that. I didn't care for Max Von Sydow's portrayal of Jesus in "The Greatest Story Ever Told" or Jonathan Roumie in "The Chosen," but I liked Jeffrey Hunter in "King of Kings" and Robert Powell in "Jesus of Nazareth." And of course I thought Jim Caviezel played him best in "The Passion of the Christ."
Huge fan of the 2004 movie’s cast, but I understand Mel’s choice here. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to cast a 57-year-old as a resurrected 33-ish Jesus and a 61-year-old as Mary Magdalene. Monica Bellucci, God bless her, I had a crush on her a couple decades ago. But, as with many other actresses of her generation, the plastic surgery/botox hasn’t worked out terribly well for her.
I understand why not Caviezel or Bellucci, but why a Finnish actor instead of someone more in keeping with the region/history? It’s almost as annoying as DEI.
I hear ya, but I trust Mel to make a great film.
I will just be happy to live long enough to see both sequels.
I don’t ask for much.
Cavizel is simply too old to look 33 now and the man paid his dues in The Passion.
Poor guy nearly died.
Agreed.
Wow! I just finished listening to a Spinoza tape titled “The 7 Forbidden Words of Jesus.” It chronicles the impact of Roman influence on early Christianity, ensuring their later dominance over the new religion.
“When in Rome...”.
Swedish actor Max Von Sydow played Jesus in “The Greatest Story Ever Told”.
There are plenty of Coptic Jews....
Jewish identity is the objective or subjective sense of perceiving oneself as a Jew and as relating to being Jewish. It encompasses elements of nationhood, ethnicity, religion, and culture. Broadly defined, Jewish identity does not rely on whether one is recognized as Jewish by others or by external religious, legal, or sociological standards. Jewish identity does not need to imply religious orthodox
Thank you for posting this and saving me the trouble of finding it.
There are a lot of Messianic Jews who believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
Maybe he should have cast Alan Ritchson as Jesus. Big guy.
And honestly for that reason alone, “Greatest Story” loses its timeless and universal quality. It resembles Book of Mormon illustrations.
That was also an era where men like Mickey Rooney played a Chinese neighbor in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
We are in the year 2025 now, and people complain about DEI casting, and this is no different. It’s a wrong decision. It’s just DEI-in reverse and offensive to be honest.
Does’t help that Gibson has an anti-Semitic rap sheet to boot.
I think his movie “Apocalypto” is both fantastic and underrated.
It'll be a good film if it has some post-resurrection story in it such as the persecution of Christians. The Resurrection story doesn't have enough brutal gore material for a Mel Gibson produced movie. LOL
I would have preferred Caviezel, but I read elsewhere that age was a problem.
This is Gibson’s movie and he will cast it as he pleases.
Cut it out.
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