Passion of the Christ actor Christo Jivkov has tragically died aged 48 from cancer.
The actor passed away in Los Angeles.
Jivkov was best known for being an actor and producer who was born in Sofia, Bulgaria.
He found fame in films like The Profession of Arms, which won multiple awards, and The Passion of the Christ.
Jivkov was thought to be involved in the sequel, titled The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection, however this was never confirmed.
Mel Gibson, who directed the original film, told paster Greg Laurie in 2016: "It’s called The Resurrection."
He added: "Of course, that’s a very big subject and it needs to be looked at because we don’t want to just do a simple rendering of it — you know, read what happened."
Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in the first film, said in an interview in 2020 that the project was on its way and that it would be "the biggest film in world history".
The first movie grossed $612million worldwide despite a production budget of just $30million.
The Passion of the Christ broke many records and became a blockbuster.
It was one of the most commercially successful independent movies ever, and it set a record for the highest-grossing R-rated film in North America.
Despite receiving three Oscar nominations at the 77th Academy Awards ceremony, it did not go on to win any.
Shortly after graduating from the Bulgarian Film & Theater Academy where he majored in film directing, Jivkov was cast as the lead, Giovanni de Medici, in Ermanno Olmi’s 2001 feature The Profession of Arms, which swept the 2002 David di Donatello Awards with nine wins, including Best Film.
He passed away after a long battle with lung cancer, according to The Sun.
The description of the rumoured The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection reads: "A sequel to The Passion of the Christ (2004) focuses on the events that occurred three days between the crucifixion and resurrection when Jesus Christ descended to Abraham's Bosom to preach and resurrect Old Testament saints."
It is not known when the second installment will be released.
