Director Mel Gibson and Screenwriter Randall Wallace are in the early stages of writing Resurrection, a sequel to The Passion of the Christ.

The Oscar-nominated Wallace, who previously worked with Mel Gibson on Braveheart, confirmed rumours to THR that work had begun on the script for the follow-up, titled Resurrection. The story also holds a special weight with Wallace, as he was a religion major at Duke.

"I always wanted to tell this story," he says. "The Passion is the beginning and there's a lot more story to tell."

The Passion of the Christ was released back in 2004, and while it brought in an enormous box office, especially considering the small 30 million dollar budget, many had assumed a sequel was abandoned. Wallace said the community around the film has done anything but dwindle.

"The evangelical community considers The Passion the biggest movie ever out of Hollywood, and they kept telling us that they think a sequel will be even bigger," Wallace says. As for Gibson, he was approached by a fan recently about a sequel during an advance screening of his most recent film Hacksaw Ridge, but he only said he'd be interested in a followup, not that he was actually working on one. After seeing that there was indeed an audience for a sequel, it seems he was convinced.

The film is currently in the planning and writing phase, so no studios, financing, or casting has been announced, and most likely won't be until much further down the line. Wallace added: "It's too early to talk money. This is such a huge and sacred subject."