Ten years in gestation, the project is a "labor of love" for Gibson. The script he wrote with Benedict Fitzgerald ("Wise Blood") is taken directly from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John or, as Gibson likes to refer to them, "four obscure writers." It also draws on an old book Gibson found in his library, "The Dolorous Passion," by Anne Catherine Emmerich. He says he didn't know he had it until it literally fell into his hands when he was reaching for another book. After years of writing, reworking the script and waiting for the right moment, Gibson was ready to make his ode to Christ.