The Passion of the Christ: Awakening

The Passion of the Christ: Awakening (also known as The Passion of the Christ: The Animated Movie) is an upcoming adult computer-animated biblical drama film co-produced by DreamWorks Animation, Nickelodeon Movies, Sony Pictures Animation, Walden Media, Affirm Films, Happy Madison Productions and The Kerner Entertainment Company. The film was directed by Robert Marianetti (in his feature directorial debut), from a screenplay and written by Mel Gibson, Adam Sandler and Carlos Kotkin. Inspired by the Passion of Jesus largely according to the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It's an animated remake of the live-action film The Passion of the Christ.

The Passion of the Christ: Awakening was released by Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures through its parental label Sony Pictures Releasing.

Plot
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays with his disciples Peter, James and John beside him. Satan soon appears and tries to tempt Jesus as his sweat suddenly turns into blood and a serpent emerges from Satan's guise. Jesus then rebukes Satan by crushing the serpent's head. Meanwhile, Judas Iscariot, another of Jesus's disciples, is bribed by Caiaphas and the Pharisees with thirty pieces of silver, and leads a group of temple guards to the forest where he betrays Jesus's identity. As the guards arrest Jesus, a fight erupts wherein Peter draws his dagger and slashes the ear of Malchus, the commander of the guards. Jesus heals Malchus' injury while reprimanding Peter. As the disciples flee, the guards secure Jesus and beat him on the way to the Sanhedrin. John informs Mary and Magdalene of the arrest, and they reunite with Peter who has followed Jesus and his captors. Caiaphas holds trial during which false accusations and witnesses are brought against Jesus and some priests, who secretly support Jesus and oppose the trial, are expelled from the court. When Caiaphas asks him whether he is the Son of God, Jesus replies, "I am." Caiaphas angrily tears his robes and Jesus is condemned to death for blasphemy. As Jesus is brutally beaten, Peter is confronted by the mob and he denies being a follower of Jesus. After cursing them during the third denial, Peter remembers Jesus's forewarning, then weeps bitterly and flees. Meanwhile, a guilt-ridden Judas attempts to return the money to have Jesus freed, but is refused by the priests. Haunted by demons, Judas takes a rope from a donkey's rotting corpse and uses it to hang himself. Caiaphas and the crowd bring Jesus before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, to be condemned to death. At the urging of his wife Claudia, who knows Jesus is holy, and after questioning Jesus and finding no fault, Pilate transfers him to the court of Herod Antipas since Jesus is from Antipas's domain of Galilee. Antipas deems him to be a harmless fool and returns him. Pilate then offers the crowd the choice of freeing Jesus or the violent criminal Barabbas. The crowd demands Barabbas be freed and Jesus crucified. Attempting to appease the crowd, Pilate orders that Jesus simply be flogged. The Roman guards brutally scourge Jesus before taking him to a barn where they place a crown of thorns on his head and insult him. A bloodied Jesus is presented before Pilate and the crowd, but Caiaphas, with the crowd's verbal backing, continues demanding that Jesus be crucified. Unwilling to instigate an uprising, Pilate reluctantly orders Jesus's crucifixion as he washes his hands to avoid blame. Jesus then carries a heavy wooden cross on the road to Golgotha while Satan observes Jesus' suffering with sadistic pleasure. Along the way, Jesus is constantly harassed by the guards and rampant mob, encounters his mother who comforts him for a short while before being pulled away by the guards, is helped by the unwilling Simon of Cyrene, and is replenished by a woman who wipes his bloodied face with her veil before also being dragged away by the guards. At the end of their journey, with his mother Mary, Magdalene, John, and many others witnessing, Jesus is crucified. Hanging from the cross, Jesus prays to God to forgive his tormentors, provides salvation to a criminal crucified beside him for his strong faith and repentance, and comforts his mother. Succumbing to his wounds, Jesus surrenders his spirit and dies. A single droplet of rain then falls from the sky to the ground, triggering an earthquake which damages the temple and rips the veil covering the Holy of Holies in two while Satan screams in defeat from the depths of Hell. Jesus's body is taken down from the cross and entombed. Three days later, Jesus rises from the dead and exits the tomb, with wound holes visible on his palms.

Voice cast

 * Adam Sandler as Jesus of Nazareth
 * Julie Kavner as Mary, the mother of Jesus
 * Marina Massironi as Mary Magdalene
 * Giacomo Gianniotti as Dismas
 * Stefan Kapičić as Pontius Pilatus

Production
A faith-based animated film inspired by the passion of Jesus under his production company, Happy Madison Productions, Amblin Entertainment, Walden Media and The Kerner Entertainment Company, in collaboration with Sony Pictures Animation, Nickelodeon Movies and DreamWorks Animation.

The animation was produced by Cinesite.