Line #13 Trivia/TheLastTemptationOfChrist


1	* BannedInChina:
2	** Was banned in a number of countries on its original release. In Latin America it was targeted because it was perceived as a direct attack on the Catholic Church, who, in the 1980s, had a strong moral authority almost on par with the federal government in those countries. The bans weren't lifted until nearly two decades later in some cases. It finally got shown in Colombia in 2001, Chile in 2003 and Mexico in 2004. It's still banned in The Philippines and Singapore.
3	** A few American cities tried to take legal action against the film in 1988. Pensacola, Florida, actually passed a resolution making it illegal to show it in the city. A theater scheduled it anyway. A federal judge nullified the resolution hours before the first screening. A studio representative had actually made a RunForTheBorder (to the next county) with the film reels until getting word that the screening was happening.
4	* ContractualPurity: Creator/MartinScorsese banned smoking from the set, both because he's a severe asthmatic, and to avoid any photographs being taken of actors and actresses playing Biblical characters, primarily Creator/WillemDafoe, who smoked at the time, with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths.
5	* DuelingWorks: Ironically became one with ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'' when it had its belated 2004 release in Mexico. ''Last Temptation'' did surprisingly good business, and it's been speculated it might've been because some people mistakenly thought it was the Gibson film.
6	* HeAlsoDid: Zebedee is played by Irvin Kershner, most famous for directing ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''.
7	* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/WillemDafoe as Jesus. Ironically, one of the canards about the film during the pre-release protests was that it portrayed Jesus as a "wimp". That Dafoe was certainly not the actor you'd want to cast if you really ''did'' want to have a wimpy Jesus obviously didn't occur to those people.
8	* ReferencedBy: ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' had an episode titled "The Last Temptation of Raimundo".
9	* ReleaseDateChange: Creator/{{Universal}} moved up the release date to take advantage of the publicity surrounding the picture.
10	* SavedFromDevelopmentHell:
11	** Creator/SidneyLumet made plans to adapt the novel around 1971, but dropped them because he had problems finding a decent script.
12	** Creator/MartinScorsese had long wanted to make a film about Jesus, and after being introduced to the novel in TheSeventies this became his dream project, but the combined controversial and uncommercial aspects of the film meant that it took over a decade to get made. Paramount finally greenlighted it in 1983, initially with a $14 million budget (later reduced in half). Locations were secured in Israel, sets were constructed, and the cast was finalized. When Paramount disliked Scorsese's choice for Jesus, Creator/ChristopherWalken, Scorsese gave the role to Creator/AidanQuinn instead. Music/DavidBowie auditioned for Pontius Pilate but Scorsese chose {{Music/Sting}}. But due to religious controversy and financial worries, the studio pulled the plug a month before filming was scheduled to start (they told Scorsese they were backing out two days before Christmas). The costumes and props ended up getting used for ''Film/KingDavid'' instead. When Scorsese finally got to make the film, Quinn didn't return,[[note]]He was burned out after playing the lead in Caleb Deschanel's ''[[Literature/RobinsonCrusoe Crusoe]]''. Ironically, Pauline Kael likened Quinn's performance in that film to "a hippie Christ figure"[[/note]] but most of the rest of the cast (notably Creator/HarveyKeitel, Creator/BarbaraHershey and Creator/HarryDeanStanton) did. When Sting couldn't back out of his music commitments, Bowie took over as Pilate.
13	* ThrowItIn: The trippy light show immediately after Jesus's death was a result of the camera breaking and the light ruining the rest of the film, a genuine mistake.
14	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
15	** At various points, Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/DavidCarradine, Creator/JohnMalkovich and Creator/JonathanPryce were under discussion to play Jesus. Creator/EricRoberts auditioned and Scorsese liked him, but he took himself out of the running. As mentioned in Saved From Development Hell, Creator/ChristopherWalken and Creator/AidanQuinn both had the role before circumstances took them off the film and Creator/WillemDafoe took over.
16	** Creator/JeffBridges was a big fan of the book and when he heard it was being made into a film he actively sought out the part of Judas, even writing a personal letter to Creator/MartinScorsese. Creator/MelGibson was also considered for Jesus. [[Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist He'd later make his own Christ film]]. Creator/EdHarris was also considered.
17	** Creator/ChristopherLloyd turned down a role as one of the Disciples, a decision he later regretted.
18	** Creator/KimBasinger and Creator/SallyField were offered the role of Mary Magdalene. Basinger turned it down and Field was pregnant.
19	** Music/DavidBowie was advised by Creator/BillyConnolly to give Pontius Pilate a Scottish accent, since some historians believe Pilate was from Scotland, but he refused.
20	** Creator/MartinScorsese originally wanted Creator/SteveBuscemi to play James.
21	** The original script had the [[spoiler:Satanic]] angel in the final part of the film as a young Arab boy. For the aborted Paramount version, Scorsese changed the angel to an old man, and cast Creator/LewAyres in the role (with Creator/HumeCronyn also under strong consideration).
22	** Creator/PaulSchrader's writing contract also gave him right-of-first-refusal to direct the film if Scorsese decided not to make it. During the hiatus between the Paramount and Universal phases, Schrader felt that Scorsese wasn't pushing hard enough for the film and invoked this clause, which led to one of the periodic flare-ups between the two VitriolicBestBuds.
23	* WorkingTitle: A fake one. To lessen the amount of scrutiny on the production, Scorsese filmed it under the title of ''The Passion''. Music/PeterGabriel's score was later released as an album called ''Music/{{Passion}}''.

Context Trivia / TheLastTemptationOfChrist