Development Martin Scorsese had wanted to make a film version of
Jesus' life and was fascinated by the imagery of Jesus since childhood. He was given a copy of
Nikos Kazantzakis's
The Last Temptation of Christ in 1962 while attending
New York University, but did not read it until 1972. During the filming of
Boxcar Bertha he was given additional copies by
Barbara Hershey and
David Carradine. From 1975 to 1978, he slowly read the book and decided that he should adapt it.
Paul Schrader wrote a screenplay based on the novel from 1981 to 1982. Scorsese and
Jay Cocks edited Schrader's script over the course of eight months in 1983 and rewrote most of the dialogue. Cocks was initially credited as a writer alongside Schrader on the poster, but was removed after Schrader appealed to the
Writers Guild of America. Production started at
Paramount Pictures in 1983 with a budget of $15–20 million. Management at Paramount and its then parent company,
Gulf+Western, grew uneasy due to the ballooning budget for the picture and protest letters received from religious groups. The project went into
turnaround, and was finally canceled in December 1983. Scorsese went on to make
After Hours instead, disappointed at Paramount's abandonment of the project. Scorsese and his agent
Harry J. Ufland attempted to revive the film and considered filming in Yugoslavia, Spain or North Africa. In 1986,
Universal Studios became interested in the project. Scorsese offered to shoot the film in 58 days for $7 million, Scorsese struggled to find an actor that could play Jesus. He first noticed
Willem Dafoe in
To Live and Die in L.A. and Dafoe's performance in
Platoon confirmed his beliefs about Dafoe's acting ability. Dafoe, who was teaching in Massachusetts at the time, immediately accepted the role. Sting was replaced by
David Bowie. On an episode of
The Joe Rogan Experience in January 2025,
Mel Gibson revealed that Scorsese asked him to play the role of Jesus in the film. Gibson said he told Scorsese at the time, "Wow. I'm not doing that." In his memoir,
Eric Roberts discussed being offered the part of Jesus, but turned it down after receiving advice from his manager. Roberts alleges Scorsese was upset by his decision and holds a grudge against him as a result.
Filming John Beard was hired as production designer at the suggestion of
Terry Gilliam. Scorsese stated that he did not want the film to be lavish and was avoiding "pomp, solemnity, or excessive reverence". Jean-Pierre Delifer created the costumes for the film. On the first day of filming Scorsese was critical of the cleanliness of the Roman soldiers and had the extras roll around in the dirt. Shooting was done in Morocco and the village of Oumnast served as
Nazareth and
Magdala. The desert scenes were shot twenty minutes outside of Oumnast.
Meknes was used for the scenes in
Jerusalem and the stables of
Ismail Ibn Sharif were similar to the
Al-Aqsa Mosque, which Scorsese had hoped to use for the 1983 shoot. Two days of filming was done in the mountains near
Azrou and Itto. There were few special effects in the film and Scorsese relied on lighting and editing instead. The pagan temple featured in the scene depicting the
Sermon on the Mount was based on
Babylonian designs. The crucifixion was shot over three days using sixty different camera setups. Filming was difficult as Dafoe could only stay on the cross for two to three minutes. The slow-motion shot of the jeering crowd at the crucifixion was inspired by a painting of the crucifixion done by
Hieronymus Bosch.
Principal photography began in October 1987, and wrapped by December 25, 1987.
Barbara Hershey rejected use of body double in her sex scenes, saying, “I knew if I did the scene, I’d really feel like a whore.” ==Themes==