Mel Gibson Asks Churches to Pray Ahead of The Resurrection of the Christ Release in May 2027

Twenty-three years is how long churchgoers have waited for Mel Gibson to finish the story he started with The Passion of the Christ, and this week the wait got a voice. Gibson looked straight into a camera and asked the church for something simpler than ticket sales. He asked for prayer.

The filmmaker sent a special video message to Pastor Samuel Rodriguez and members of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, known as the NHCLC. The occasion was the conference's 25th anniversary, and the message carried news about The Resurrection of the Christ Part One. The film is scheduled to reach theaters on 6 May 2027.

Gibson did not begin with box office talk or release dates. He began with gratitude, and the words were plain enough for any congregation to understand. His request, reported by CBN and Charisma on 26 and 27 October 2026, was aimed squarely at pastors and their people.

Mel Gibson Asks Churches to Pray for The Resurrection of the Christ

"I'm so grateful to all of you and can't wait for you to see The Resurrection of the Christ Part One in theaters May 6, 2027," Gibson said in the message. The date gives churches a fixed point on the calendar, and the film gives them a reason to start praying now.

Rodriguez had been with Gibson on set in Italy during production, Gibson said, and saw firsthand the scale of what was being put together. That firsthand witness is part of why the message landed with weight among NHCLC members. A pastor who has stood on the set can tell his people what he saw, and Rodriguez has been doing exactly that.

Please prepare your churches to pray for us as we get ready to release the film in theaters next May.

Gibson closed the request with thanks. "And thank you for all your prayers and support in leading your churches to The Resurrection of the Christ. God bless," he said.

The ask was not for applause, and it was not for opening-weekend numbers. It was for prayer, and it was made to the people most likely to give it.

Cardinal Muller and Franklin Graham on the Film's Spiritual Weight

The video also carried voices beyond Gibson's own. Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller declared that Gibson is "preaching the gospel with this modern means," a line that frames the film as ministry as much as cinema. The cardinal's words sit alongside the practical request for prayer, and together they give the project a shape churches recognise, in a season when faith leaders have been gathering to speak plainly about peace and belief.

Franklin Graham appears in the video too, and his words go further. "The Resurrection of the Christ is not just a film," Graham said. "This is the greatest event in history and it's being recreated right here so you can see it."

Readers who follow Graham's public statements can read Franklin Graham's recent response to Billy Crystal's comments about God, where the evangelist made a similar case for holding on to faith through hard questions.

The Passion of the Christ: $30 Million Film That Earned $610 Million

The new film is the two-part follow-up to Gibson's 2004 film The Passion of the Christ. That film was produced for about $30 million and earned more than $610 million worldwide, according to reporting on its release. Those numbers explain why a sequel carries such weight, and why the follow-up arrives as a seperate chapter rather than a remake.

Gibson has described the new film as exploring the Resurrection and realms Scripture does not fully describe. He has spoken of what he calls the "hell of the just" and the "hell of the damned," distinguishing the righteous awaiting Christ from those condemned. That is Gibson's own description, and it is presented here as his framing, not as settled doctrine.

What Churches Can Do Before May 2027

The practical ask is simple, and it fits the rhythm of congregational life. Pastors can set aside time in services, prayer meetings can add the film by name, and small groups can talk about what the Resurrection means before they ever see it on screen. The months between now and May give churches room to prepare without rushing.

Faith and film have been meeting often this autumn, from Kirk Franklin and Davido's Hope in You release to the Dove Awards stage where Josiah Queen's 'Dusty Bibles' won Song of the Year. Gibson's message fits that same season, and it asks for something older than any awards show. Prayer has always been the church's first response, and this time the request came from the director himself.

Whether the film meets the hope placed in it will only be known when the lights go down on 6 May 2027. Until then, the prayer Gibson asked for is the part churches can already give, and the story of what those prayers produce is still being written. The next chapter belongs to the congregations who take up the request, and to a film that has not yet had its first public screening.

But the most surprising part of this story is yet to come — keep reading.