Jesus and the Resurrection Myth in Hollywood

“Only birth can conquer death—the birth, not of the old thing again, but of something new.” These words, penned by famed mythologist Joseph Campbell, touch on arguably the most prevalent narrative motif in Hollywood: resurrection.

Why has resurrection played such a central role in so many classic tales? One reason is that it makes for a compelling story. Audiences experience an emotional gut punch as they watch beloved protagonists sacrifice themselves for the greater good and then enjoy a cathartic release of joy as the characters somehow reemerge stronger and wiser than before. But the recurring plotline offers more than enthralling entertainment. The enduring presence of the resurrection motif reflects a deeper spiritual reality. The resurrection myth exists as a reverberating echo of a resurrection that was far more than just a myth.

The Biblical Resurrection on Screen  

The death and rebirth story is perhaps most noticeable around Easter, when the biblical resurrection story takes center stage. There have already been multiple retellings of the narrative this year, with both The King of Kings and The Last Supper currently in theaters. While The Chosen series has not yet reached that pivotal moment, its significance colors its entire theatrically released fifth season. The most famous cinematic depiction of Jesus’ death and resurrection remains Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004), with the long-awaited sequel—The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection—slated for release next year.

Gospel adaptations may offer the most obvious examples, but the resurrection myth isn’t limited to dramatizations of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, it might be easier to compile a list of notable movies that don’t feature a resurrection of some sort.   

Fictional Resurrections on Screen

Joseph Campbell famously developed the theory of the “Hero’s Journey” or “Monomyth.” He posited that all stories are just echoes—in full or in part—of a singular narrative that humans have been telling since the beginning of time. After an extensive study of myths across many cultures, he observes in The Power of Myth, “The death and resurrection of a savior figure is a common motif in all these legends…. Somebody has had to die in order for life to emerge.” Sometimes the rebirth is literal, other times it is metaphorical, but according to Campbell, it is a path every hero ultimately travels.  

Others have perceived a similar truth. Christopher Vogler is a former Hollywood executive for Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Inspired by Campbell, he wrote and distributed an influential screenwriting guide that was most famously utilized in the making of The Lion King (1994). In his book The Writer’s Journey (an expanded version of the guide), Vogler explains that the word “sacrifice” comes from the Latin words meaning “making holy.” He observes, “Heroes are often required to sanctify a story by making a sacrifice, perhaps by giving up or giving back something of themselves.” Likewise, in his bestselling book The Seven Basic Plots, Christopher Booker lists “Rebirth” as one of the stories frequently retold. 

Heroes such as Harry Potter, Gandalf, Luke Skywalker, Martin Brody, Ebenezer Scrooge, Snow White, and many others experience the cycle of death and rebirth in different ways. The theme shows up in less obvious examples as well, such as in underdog sports movies. In Space Jam (1996), the dispirited Looney Tunes must “die” to their hopeless attitudes and be “reborn” in order to defeat the Monstars. 

Consider the title of the recent comic book show Daredevil: Born Again or the upcoming reboot Dexter: Resurrection. For an industry often accused of being apathetic (at best) and antagonistic (at worst) toward religion, Hollywood has always been obsessed with the idea of resurrection.

Jesus and the True Myth  

Does the resurrection myth as it appears in fiction echo Jesus’ resurrection or does the prevalence of the theme call into question the validity of the biblical account? Campbell understood Jesus as just one example of the archetypal hero. Critics of religion are often quick to cite the fact that the resurrection myth predates Jesus, with earlier mythology figures—even divine beings—said to have died and been reborn for the sake of others. 

Yet such criticism fails to view the resurrection of Jesus in its full context. The key is to see the empty tomb not as the origin of the myth but as the ultimate fulfillment of a story God began writing from the moment Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in Eden and severed humankind’s relationship with him.

As with most tellings of the Hero’s Journey, the death and rebirth take place during the story’s climax, but the journey leading up to those events lends meaning to the sacrifice. Humans tell stories of the resurrection myth because the reality of death and rebirth as the only path to salvation is wired into our spiritual DNA. We seem to understand intuitively that someone unworthy of death must die in order to usher in salvation. 

Perhaps no one has better articulated this understanding than C. S. Lewis: “The heart of Christianity is a myth which is also a fact. The old myth of the dying God without ceasing to be myth, comes down from the heaven of legend and imagination to the earth of history. It happens – at a particular date, in a particular place, followed by definable historical consequences …. By becoming fact it does not cease to be myth: that is the miracle.”

Lewis’ good friend J. R. R. Tolkien coined the word “eucatastrophe” to describe a sudden reversal of fortune in which salvation from inevitable defeat arrives from an unforeseen source (“The eagles are coming!”). As a devout Christian, he didn’t view these narrative moments as trite or fanciful but as an echo of factual reality: “And I concluded by saying that the Resurrection was the greatest ‘eucatastrophe’ possible in the greatest Fairy Story – and produces that essential emotion: Christian joy which produces tears because it is qualitatively so like sorrow, because it comes from those places where Joy and Sorrow are at one, reconciled, as selfishness and altruism are lost in Love.”

The resurrection myth features in so many stories because Jesus’ resurrection was the defining event of our own human story. Whether it unfolds as a straightforward biblical adaptation or in a fictional or fantasy world, stories of rebirth echo that truth. The resurrection myth is prevalent in Hollywood because the human soul cries out for salvation. These stories remind us that there was one resurrection narrative that was far more than a story. In the person of Jesus Christ, the myth became fact.