A controversial Mel Gibson movie is making waves on Netflix. Mel Gibson is an actor and filmmaker who first got his start in the Australian film industry, breaking out as the lead of 1979’s Mad Max and its first two sequels. He went on to star in a number of popular movies, including Franco Zeffirelli’s 1990 Shakespeare adaptation Hamlet, the 1995 Disney animated movie Pocahontas, and the action-comedy franchise Lethal Weapon, which had four feature-length installments between 1987 and 1998.

A number of Mel Gibson movies were also directed by the actor. This includes 1993’s The Man Without a Face and 1995’s Braveheart, the latter of which won five Oscars, including Best Picture. However, as his career as a director continued, he remained behind the camera for a number of notable тιтles, not appearing onscreen in movies such as the 2016 Andrew Garfield war movie Hacksaw Ridge, the 2025 Mark Wahlberg thriller Flgiht Risk, and his controversial classic that is doing well on streaming.

The Pᴀssion Of The Christ Has Found New Life On Netflix

The Movie Is Now A Global Hit

2004’s The Pᴀssion of the Christ has become a global Netflix success. The Mel Gibson-directed movie starred Jim Caviezel as Jesus Christ and followed the final 12 hours of the religious figure’s life. The Pᴀssion of the Christ was controversial for a variety of reasons, including its intense violence, its presentation of Jesus as an avatar of pain and suffering rather than love, and several of its character depictions drawing accusations of antisemitism. However, the movie was a smash hit, grossing a staggering $612.1 million against its $30 million budget, making it the fifth highest-grossing movie of the year worldwide.

Netflix has now calculated their global Top 10 chart of the most-watched Non-English movies on the platform for the week of April 18 through April 24. Because it is in Aramaic rather than English, The Pᴀssion of the Christ has made its debut on that chart at No. 2, thanks to 8.5 million viewers amᴀssing a total of 17.1 million viewing hours. The movie was in the Top 10 in 46 countries across the world and No. 1 in 10, namely Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, El Salvador, and Lebanon.

This debut on the chart comes several weeks after the movie arrived on the platform, on March 28.

What This Means For The Pᴀssion Of The Christ

Can It Stay On The Chart?

Ultimately, the true test of whether Mel Gibson тιтle is a proper Netflix hit will be if it remains on the chart, because it debuted on the chart during Easter week. Because the holiday is directly linked to the story of Jesus, it likely inspired many celebrants to watch or rewatch the movie. However, even if the 2004 movie drops off the chart the following week, the resurgence of interest in the project could indicate that the upcoming Pᴀssion of the Christ sequel The Resurrection of the Christ is arriving at the right time to connect with its core audience.

Source: Netflix