Passion 2

The Passion of the Christ is the most successful independent film of all time, having taken $612 million at the box office worldwide.

Mel Gibson and Braveheart screenwriter Randall Wallace are working on a sequel right now, the latter told The Hollywood Reporter , which will centre on Jesus’ rise from the dead.

Rumours had already been circulating about the project, which Wallace has now publicly disclosed because it was becoming too difficult to keep under wraps.

"I always wanted to tell this story," the screenwriter, who was a religion major at Duke University and specialised in the resurrection, said. "The Passion is the beginning and there's a lot more story to tell."

He most recently directed and co-wrote another faith-based movie, Heaven is for Real, and apparently got talking to Gibson about The Passion sequel while they were making war film Hacksaw Ridge.

by Christopher Hooton