50 Fun Facts About The Passion of the Christ

What do the guards place on Jesus's head after the scourging?

The insults and the crown come just before Pilate presents him to the crowd for the last time.

Who plays Jesus?

Gibson warned him he might never work in Hollywood again if he took the part.

Which Italian actress plays Mary Magdalene?

Critic Katha Pollitt noted pointedly that the 'good Jews' in the film look like Italian movie stars.

Who plays Mary, the mother of Jesus?

The Romanian actress suggested the Passover Seder exchange between Mary and Mary Magdalene that appears early in the film.

Roughly what span of time does the film primarily cover?

Flashbacks to the Last Supper, a hillside sermon and Jesus's childhood are woven through it.

Where does the film open?

Jesus prays there while Peter, James and John fall asleep, and Satan tempts him to escape his fate.

In the opening scene Jesus crushes what underfoot, in a visual allusion to Genesis 3:15?

The verse foretells the offspring of the woman crushing the serpent's head.

What are the three languages of the film's dialogue?

Gibson at first wanted no subtitles at all, believing the images would overcome the language barrier.

Who translated the English script into Latin and reconstructed Aramaic?

He deliberately built errors into the speech of characters using a language foreign to them, and left the Roman soldiers' crude lines untranslated.

Why did Gibson say he wanted to avoid modern languages?

He compared it to hearing 'To be or not to be' and instinctively finishing the line yourself.

Which Roman governor tries Jesus in the film?

At his wife's urging he tries to pass the case to Herod, then offers the crowd the choice of a convicted murderer.

Whom does the crowd choose to free instead of Jesus?

The convicted murderer's release is the moment Pilate resorts to ordering the scourging.

Who urges Pilate to spare Jesus and later provides cloths to clean up his blood?

Mary and Mary Magdalene use the linens to mop the blood from the scourging court, a scene drawn from the Emmerich visions.

What traditional names does the film give the two thieves crucified beside Jesus?

Neither name is in the Gospels; they come from Christian tradition, where the penitent thief is Dismas.

Who is pressed into helping Jesus carry the cross?

He is unwilling at first; a deleted scene has him holding up both the cross and Jesus at once.

What does the woman on the road to Golgotha do for Jesus?

This is Veronica, whose story comes from Catholic tradition and the sixth Station of the Cross, not the Gospels.

What triggers the earthquake that tears the temple veil after Jesus dies?

The shot follows the raindrop from the sky as if it were a tear falling from heaven.

What is the name of the Roman tribune ordered to spear Jesus's side?

Tradition names the soldier Longinus, but the film calls him Cassius.

What form do the demons that torment Judas take before he hangs himself?

It is one of several surreal touches, along with a Satan who carries a grotesque baby during the scourging.

Which Gospel is the only one to include the trial before Herod, which the film dramatises?

The film draws on all four Gospels but also borrows a line from Revelation: 'I make all things new'.

Which Old Testament book provides the film's opening epigraph?

It quotes the Fourth Song of the Suffering Servant.

Whose visions, recorded in The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, inspired Mel Gibson's Passion?

The book, written by Clemens Brentano, gave Gibson vivid detail on the crucifixion and an expanded role for Mary.

Which relic inspired Gibson's depiction of Jesus's appearance?

The Stations of the Cross were also a template: every station is shown except the eighth and the fourteenth.

Which two towns in Italy's Basilicata region were the film's main locations?

Matera's ancient cave dwellings had already doubled as Jerusalem in Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew.

Sets from which Martin Scorsese film were reused to save time and money?

Scorsese had just wrapped at the same Rome studio, and Gibson's production designers built part of their Jerusalem from what he left behind.

What was the film's approximate production budget, paid entirely by Gibson and Icon?

He spent another $15 million or so on marketing after no studio would back a film 'shot in two dead languages'.

At which Rome studio was the film's soundstage work shot?

Location work took place in the south, in Basilicata; the Rome studio hosted the soundstage work.

During which scene was the film's star struck by lightning?

It was the last shot of filming; the strike caused heart complications that took two surgeries and years to fix.

Which of these injuries did the actor playing Jesus NOT suffer while making the film, by his own account?

A Roman-soldier actor missed the board behind him and struck his back; he also got pneumonia and skin infections from the eight-hour makeup sessions.

Who composed the film's Oscar-nominated score?

Lisa Gerrard and Patrick Cassidy had recorded a preliminary score that was unfinished at release; the final score leans on the 'wailing woman' technique.

Why could Gibson not use his preferred title, The Passion, in the United States?

It was briefly announced as The Passion of Christ before the final title was settled for every market.

Which studio with an Icon first-look deal passed on the film after protests, then released it on home video anyway?

Gibson ended up distributing it himself in the U.S. with independent Newmarket Films handling prints and collections.

On which day of the church calendar did the film open in the United States?

February 25, 2004: it earned $125.2 million in its first five days, tying Return of the King's Wednesday-opening record.

Roughly how much did the film gross worldwide?

That made it the highest-grossing independent film ever and the top non-English-language film until Wolf Warrior 2 in 2017.

Which 2024 film broke its 20-year record as the top-grossing R-rated film in the U.S. and Canada?

The Passion had held the mark at $370.8 million; Joker and Oppenheimer both fell short.

What rare grade did CinemaScore audiences give the film?

Critics were split down the middle: 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, with Roger Ebert giving four stars and Slate calling it a snuff movie.

What five-word verdict was attributed to Pope John Paul II after a private screening?

Peggy Noonan reported it in The Wall Street Journal; the pope's secretary later insisted he had told no one his opinion.

Which South Park episode satirised the film and the antisemitism debate?

Stan and Kenny go to Mel Gibson's house to demand a refund.

What was The Passion Recut, released in March 2005?

Gibson hoped for a PG-13, the MPAA still called it an R, and it went out unrated to just $567,692.

Which magazine named it the most controversial film of all time in 2006, ahead of A Clockwork Orange?

Time separately listed it among the most 'ridiculously violent' films ever made.

What title did Mel Gibson announce in 2025 for his two-part sequel to The Passion?

Gibson announced the title on The Joe Rogan Experience in January 2025; the films, slated for 2027 and 2028, were to have an all-new cast after de-ageing plans proved too costly.

Who was announced to replace Jim Caviezel as Jesus in The Resurrection of the Christ?

Gibson had planned to de-age Caviezel digitally, but budget concerns led to the Finnish actor being cast instead.

Which independent distributor helped Gibson release the film in the United States?

Gibson handled marketing himself while Newmarket shipped prints and collected revenue, after 20th Century Fox passed amid protests.

Who co-wrote the screenplay with Mel Gibson and later sued him over credit and payment?

The 2008 suit also named Icon Productions; the English script was then rendered into Latin and Aramaic by Jesuit scholar William Fulco.

Which two musicians composed a preliminary score that was left incomplete at the film's release?

John Debney's finished score, conducted by Nick Ingman, earned the Oscar nomination and makes frequent use of the 'wailing woman' technique.

How much did the film earn over its five-day Wednesday opening in the United States?

That tied The Return of the King's five-day Wednesday record; the three-day weekend alone took $83.8 million.

How many DVD and VHS copies sold on the first day of release in North America?

Fox Home Entertainment handled the release on August 31, 2004, despite having passed on theatrical distribution.

Why did the film never get theatrical distribution in Israel?

By contrast it was banned outright in Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and shown only to Christians in Malaysia after protests.

At which Colorado megachurch did Gibson screen the film for 800 pastors in June 2003?

Its pastor Ted Haggard was then president of the National Association of Evangelicals; rough cuts reached over eighty audiences before release.

Which Station of the Cross is the only one fully missing from the film besides the entombment?

The eighth station was shot but left as a deleted scene on the DVD; the fourteenth, Jesus laid in the tomb, is also absent.