Actor Jim Caviezel Will Not Return to Role as Jesus for 'The Resurrection of the Christ'

Actor Jim Caviezel will not be returning to play the role of Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson's "The Resurrection of the Christ." 

Filming for the sequel to the blockbuster film "The Passion of the Christ" began last week at Rome's Cinecittà Studios, Variety reports. 

According to the outlet, the entire cast has been replaced, and Finnish actor Jaakko Ohtonen, 36, will play the role of Jesus. 

It has been 21 years since the first film came out, so all the original actors have aged during that time. A source close to production told the outlet that because the new film chronologically starts three days after Christ's death, "they would have had to do all this CGI stuff, all this digital stuff — de-aging and all that — that would have been very costly."

"It made sense to recast the whole film," the source noted.

In April, Caviezel, 57, shared that he was ready to reprise his role as Jesus while on the "Arroyo Grande" podcast.

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"I want to enjoy this one more than I did the other one," he said, comparing the two projects. "On the other one, I was concerned that it was not in Aramaic. I said, 'We're not doing this.' Well, that was a different world. But I really do trust what [Gibson] adds."

It's not clear when the decision was finally made to replace Caviezel, but he's not the only iconic star not returning to their role. 

Monica Bellucci, who played Mary Magdalene, will not return for the sequel. She will be replaced by Cuban actress Mariela Garriga.

Some other key roles will be played as follows: Kasia Smutniak will play Mary, Pier Luigi Pasino plays Peter, and Riccardo Scamarcio will appear as Pontius Pilate. 

"The Resurrection of the Christ" will be split into two movies, Movieguide reports. The first installment will hit theaters on Good Friday, March 26, 2027, and the second part will arrive on May 6, 2027, or Ascension Day, which is a day that commemorates when Christ ascended into heaven 40 days after his Resurrection.

Gibson will be producing both films and recently referred to the project as an "acid trip" on the Joe Rogan's podcast. 

"I think in order to really tell the story properly, you have to really start with the fall of the angels, which means you're in another place, you're in another realm," he told Rogan. "You need to go to hell. You need to go to Sheol."

"It's about finding the way in that's not cheesy or too obvious. I think I have ideas about how to do that and how to evoke things and emotions in people from the way you depict it and the way you shoot it. So I've been thinking about it for a long time," he said. "It's not going to be easy, and it's going to require a lot of planning, and I'm not wholly sure I can pull it off; to tell you the truth, it's super ambitious."

It may be a tall order for the film producer, but Gibson has proven he can deliver. 

When it hit theaters in 2004, "The Passion of the Christ" made $612 million on a $30 million budget, making it the highest-grossing R-rated film in North America and one of the most successful independent films of all time.