Mel Gibson and Kevin Costner have been huge stars for decades, but at this stage of their careers, Gibson could succeed where Costner failed. Both Gibson and Costner were major actors from the 1980s all the way through the 2000s, and while they have continued to do work, their newest projects are attempts to reclaim their A-list status.

Gibson got his start as the тιтle character in the Mad Max series. Soon after, he gained popularity in America, starring in movies like Lethal Weapon. Gibson got even bigger when he began directing movies, starring in and helming The Man Without a Face and Braveheart before only being behind the camera for movies like The Pᴀssion of the Christ and Apocalypto.

However, Gibson’s career has been plagued with controversies, a fact that really heated up in the mid-2000s. His public battle with alcoholism, as well as accusations of homophobic and anti-Semitic beliefs, led to him being blacklisted in Hollywood starting in the early 2010s. However, he has returned to directing and acting in recent years, hoping to make his comeback.

Resurrection Of The Christ Is Repeating Kevin Costner’s Horizon Gamble

Gibson is currently working on a sequel to his popular 2004 film The Pᴀssion of the Christ, тιтled The Resurrection of the Christ. Despite the controversies surrounding the original film, it made $612.1 million on a budget of $30 million, making it the highest-grossing faith-based film of all time.

Because of the original’s remarkable box office success, there is a clear precedent for the sequel to be another major hit. Gibson has publicly talked about The Resurrection of the Christ‘s development for years, and recently, it was finally announced that the movie is coming in 2027. However, there is a twist.

The Resurrection will now be split into two parts, both of which are set to release in 2027. Part One will hit theaters on March 26, 2027, and Part Two will release on May 6, 2027. This means that the two films will come out only 40 days apart, which is a shockingly low gap for a sequel as major as this.

This release plan draws parallels to a similar gambit from Kevin Costner. Horizon: An American Saga was meant to be a four-part Western epic that relaunched Costner’s directing career, with the first part releasing on June 28, 2024. Chapter 2 was originally scheduled to release two months later on August 16, 2024, and the other two films were set to be produced in the future.

However, Chapter 2 never hit theaters. The first film was a mᴀssive box office flop, making only $38.7 million on a budget of $50 million. Plus, its Rotten Tomatoes score of 51% proves that its critical reception wasn’t the best. Because of these factors, New Line Cinema decided that releasing Chapter 2 was too risky and put the film on indefinite hold.

Now, nearly a year after Chapter 2‘s original release date, the film has still not had a theatrical release. It has screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, but the general public hasn’t had a chance to see it yet. Costner has produced bits and pieces of Chapter 3, but it still seems to be a long way from finished.

After only three years, Gibson is attempting this risky strategy on his own. Horizon has proven that releasing two sequels so close together is dangerous, and The Resurrection is taking this challenge head on.

Will Mel Gibson’s 2-Part Sequel Meet Horizon’s Fate At The Box Office?

Although it didn’t work out for Costner, it seems likely that Gibson’s The Resurrection of the Christ release strategy could pay off. After all, the first film is the highest-grossing faith-based movie of all time, and recent faith-based movies like I Can Only Imagine and the God’s Not ᴅᴇᴀᴅ franchise have proven that there is a hungry audience.

Westerns, on the other hand, have not performed well at the box office in recent decades. This potentially played a big factor in Horizon‘s failure, a hurdle that The Resurrection won’t have to worry about. Although it is based on the Bible, The Resurrection of the Christ is technically part of a franchise, giving it the benefit of name recognition from its 2004 predecessor.

On top of that, The Resurrection‘s close release dates have an interesting purpose. The movies will be released on two significant Christian dates, with Part One coming out on Good Friday, the day on which Jesus was crucified, and Part Two coming out on Ascension Day, the day on which Jesus ascended into Heaven.

The only potential hurdle that The Resurrection of the Christ will have to face has to do with whether audiences are willing to pay for two tickets. Since there are now two films, audiences are essentially paying double the price for one story, which could make some casual movie-goers more hesitant to turn out.

On top of that, it is entirely possible that Part One could still be in theaters when Part Two is released 40 days later. This could lead to some audience members simply waiting for both films to be out, seeing them as a double feature. If this does happen, it risks hurting the initial box office for Part One of the Mel Gibson sequel, although it should balance out when Part Two is released.