Joe Condit, founder and CEO of the Catholic Speakers Organization, joins the Catholic Morning Show to talk about Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ returning to theaters September 10 through 17, newly remastered in 4K with Dolby Atmos sound. Joe argues no speaker he's represented in nearly two decades has moved audiences the way this film does, and shares behind-the-scenes stories from Jim Caviezel's performance and the enormous financial risk Gibson took to make it. He also explains how every ticket includes an exclusive sneak peek at The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One, opening May 6, 2027, and why the film's success paved the way for the current wave of faith-based cinema.
Joe Condit — founder and CEO of the Catholic Speakers Organization, the world's largest Catholic speakers bureau — joins Bo Bonner to make the case for seeing The Passion of the Christ in a theater during its limited return, September 10 through 17. Lionsgate and Fathom Entertainment have remastered the 2004 film in 4K from the original camera negative, with a Dolby Atmos audio mix, and every screening includes an exclusive behind-the-scenes sneak peek at Mel Gibson's sequel, The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One, which opens May 6, 2027.
Joe shares stories from the production that most viewers never hear: Jim Caviezel being struck by lightning during the crucifixion sequence, the separated shoulder and real blood in the first fall under the cross, and Caviezel's one prayer going into the role — that audiences would see Jesus rather than the actor. He also points out that Caviezel starred in the two most successful independently financed films in history, The Passion of the Christ and Sound of Freedom.
Bo and Joe dig into how much of a gamble the film was in 2004. Every investor Gibson approached passed on it, so he financed it himself — more than $30 million of his own money — on the conviction that the world needed to see it. Joe argues that its success is why we now have The Chosen and a whole generation of faith-based filmmaking, and that the film has lost none of its force two decades on. He's also heard from a striking number of men who admit they were afraid to watch it the first time and are now planning to bring their families.
Find showtimes and a theater near you at CatholicSpeakers.com, or check listings directly at Fathom Entertainment.
Heard on the Catholic Morning Show, weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on Iowa Catholic Radio. More at IowaCatholicRadio.com.
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