Mel Gibson confirms Passion Of The Christ sequel following original film's controversial reception

Mel Gibson has confirmed work has begun on a sequel to his 2004 film Passion Of The Christ.

In a statement made this week, the Australian actor revealed that work has already begun on the blockbuster, which will be titled The Resurrection, and that Braveheart screenwriter Randall Wallace has already signed on to the project.

'Of course, that is a huge undertaking, and you know, it's not the Passion 2. It's called The Resurrection,' said Mel during an interview with Pastor Greg Laurie at the SoCal Harvest Crusade in California.'Of course, that's a very big subject and it needs to be looked at because we don't want to just do a simple rendering of it – you know, read what happened,' he explained.

'But in order to read it, experience and explore probably deeper meanings of what it's about, it's going to take some doing and Randall Wallace is up to the task.'

'He is also, as well as a brilliant writer, he is a great director. He directed We Were Soldiers and Heaven Is For Real and stuff. So, he is a good writer and director,' added Mel.