Jim Caviezel, who acted Jesus in a 2004 film “The Passion of the Christ,” says he has received the third draft of a sequel film “The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection,” which he says would be the biggest film in world history.
Caviezel said he received the draft from Mel Gibson, the film director, though the date for its release is not known for now.
“Mel Gibson just sent me the third picture, the third draft, it’s coming,” he said in an interview with Breitbart News Daily. “It would be the biggest film in world history.”
Gibson had revealed in 2016 that he was working a sequel and that it would take time to release because resurrection is a “big subject.”
Caviezel told Breitbart News Daily that he said he would still play Jesus in the coming film that focuses on resurrection of the saviour.
He revealed that Hollywood blacklisted him after he played Jesus in the 2004 film but that he defended his role.
The American actor explained that he accepted to play the role of Jesus because his faith was bigger than anything else.
“I had no choice. I had to defend it. I had to fight to survive,” Cavielzel said. “The film exploded. It was off the charts. You’d think, Oh, you are going to work a lot.
“No, I didn’t. I was no longer on the studio list. That was gone…Because of what I do as an actor – that’s my skill – it was given to me from God. I didn’t give myself, but it’s something in which I have great range.
“I really felt that faith was much bigger than the industry and Hollywood, and bigger than the Republican or Democratic Party or any of that.”
The actor said The Passion’s sequel is important in today’s culture, saying, “It is so imperative in this time. These films can’t be made now. The films they make are Marvel Comics movies. You’ll see Superman. You won’t see Jesus. I got to play the greatest superhero there ever was.”
Caviezel said Hollywood is hostile to Biblical films despite the fact that they are doing well at the box office.
Despite the hostility from the industry, the first film, The Passion of the Christ” earned about $612 million globally with production budget of $30 million.
During the filming of The Passion of the Christ, Caviezel, 52, was struck by lightning. The thunder struck him once while reciting the “Love your enemies” in Aramaic.
The actor also had his shoulder dislocated just as he suffered from pneumonia, hypothermia, lung infection and persistent migraines.
Also, the film’s Assistant Director, Jan Michelini, was struck by lightning twice.
In an interview with Scott Ross, the 700 Club producer, Cavielzel, confirmed the behind the scenes events.
He said, “It was lit up like a Christmas tree. I was doing the Sermon on the Mount. I knew it was going to hit me about four seconds before it happened. I thought, “I’m going to get hit. And when it happened, I saw the extras grab the ground.
“What they saw was fire coming out the right and left side of my head. Illumination around the whole body. And during the shot they said, “Do you have it on camera?” What happened was Mel had said, “Action” and the cameras were panning to me and here is where this light just flashed. And by the time the cameras got to me, I hear Mel screaming out, “What the heck happened to his hair?” I looked like I went to see Don King’s hair stylist.”
He continued, “Five minutes after I got hit, Jon Mikalini, an assistant, walks over and says are you okay? And then he got hit. The difference was that they saw the bolt come down and hit Jon; they didn’t see that when I was standing there. All I felt was this giant tremendous slap on my ears and a few second of a pink, red static in front of my eyes.”
Caviezel also revealed that a Muslim who was one of the people working on the film got converted to Christianity.
“He had a real big experience there, you know,” he said, adding that there were so many people around the world praying for the crew.
Caviezel had acted in other films such as The Thin Red line, Frequency, and The Count of Monte Cristo.