Jaakko Ohtonen is Jesus in Mel Gibson’s The Resurrection of the Christ

Filming is underway on director Mel Gibson’s The Resurrection of the Christ, a two-part sequel to his 2004 hit The Passion of the Christ – and just last week, we learned that Jim Caviezel, who was always expected to reprise the role of Jesus Christ in the follow-up, is not playing Jesus in the new movies after all. The decision was made to recast because The Resurrection of the Christ is set just three days after the events of Passion, and to bring Caviezel back and hide the fact that he had aged more than twenty years would have required “all this CGI stuff, all this digital stuff — de-aging and all that — that would have been very costly.” Now, Variety has revealed that the role of Jesus Christ is being played by 36-year-old Finnish actor Jaakko Ohtonen, whose previous credits include Vikings: Valhalla, The Last Kingdom, and All the Sins.

The supporting characters have also been recast. Taking over for Monica Bellucci in the role of Mary Magdalene is Mariela Garriga, who recently appeared in the Mission: Impossible films as Marie. Kasia Smutniak (Domina) is Mary, Pier Luigi Pasino (The Law According to Lidia Poët) is Peter, and the Pontius Pilate role has gone to Riccardo Scamarcio (Modi). Rupert Everett will appear an unspecified small but important role.

The Resurrection of the Christ is being produced by Gibson, Bruce Davey, and their Icon Productions banner, with Lionsgate as the studio partner. Filming is taking place at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios.

Both installments will be distributed by Lionsgate, with the first set to drop on March 26, 2027 (Good Friday), and Part Two following on May 6, 2027 (Ascension Day). The films will tell the story of Jesus’ resurrection, but Gibson has described them as an “acid trip,” and rumors suggest that due to the challenging subject matter, the new films will not be shot in Aramaic like the original. While originally controversial due to its shocking level of graphic violence, the first movie quickly became the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time until being dethroned by Deadpool & Wolverine just last year.

Are you looking forward to seeing Jaakko Ohtonen’s performance in The Resurrection of the Christ? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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