Mel Gibson, one of Donald Trump’s ‘special envoys’ to Hollywood, is about to make a sequel to his most controversial movie, describing it as an ‘acid trip’.

More than 20 years after The Passion of The Christ was released to to a shocked and divided audience, Gibson is to start shooting The Resurrection of the Christ in Rome.

In 2004, The Passion of the Christ presented itself as an authentic and unflinching examination of Jesus’ sacrifice told in Hebrew, Latin, and Aramaic languages.

It was a major hit, taking in over $600 million at the box office thanks largely to its promotion by Christian groups. That included a marketing campaign that provided guides to church leaders about integrating the film’s themes into their education initiatives and preaching. 

But despite its commercial success and praise for Gibson’s ambition, critics pointed to inaccuracies in the portrayal of Jesus as told by the Bible and variously described it as “ultraviolent” and “deeply troubling”.

Rated R, the movie had violent scenes – particularly of Jesus being scourged and crucified – that shocked audiences.

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives The Passion of the Christ a rating of 50 per cent, warning: “Director Mel Gibson’s zeal is unmistakable, but The Passion of the Christ will leave many viewers emotionally drained rather than spiritually uplifted.”

Viewers were shocked by the violents in The Passion of the Christ. Photo: Newmarket Films

If viewers were hoping that Gibson, 69, would be more circumspect with his sequel, they will likely be disappointed.

In a recent interview with Joe Rogan, Gibson described his script for the new movie he devised with his brother and Braveheart collaborator Randall Wallace over seven years as “an acid trip”.

“I’ve never read anything like it,” he said of the script, adding “there’s some crazy stuff”.

“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. You need to go to hell. You need to go to Sheol,” Gibson, a staunch Catholic, said.

The actor and director has previously warned The Resurrection of the Christ would not have “a linear narrative”.

“You have to juxtapose the central event that I’m trying to tell with everything else around it in the future, in the past, and in other realms, and that’s kind of getting a little sci-fi out there,” he told the National Catholic Register in 2022.

Manuela Cacciamani, CEO of Rome’s Cinecittà Studios announced Thursday that shooting for the movie would begin in August.

Jim Caviezel, now 56, will reprise his role as Jesus Christ, who is thought to have been about 33 when he died.

Gibson said he need to enlist “a few techniques” to help Caviezel depict a much younger Christ, including CGI de-aging.

Gibson was in January named by President Donald Trump as one of three  “special ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California”.

Along with fellow “ambassadors” Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone, Trump said the trio would be his eyes and ears to the movie-making town.

“It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!” he wrote on Truth Social.

Gibson – who earned early respect for his successes in Mad Max and as the Oscar-winning director of Braveheart – tarnished his reputation in Hollywood when he went on an antisemitic rant in 2006 while being arrested for allegedly driving under the influence.

Regardless, he has continued to work in mainstream movies and directed the recent Mark Wahlberg thriller Flight Risk.