The Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith (partially lost production material of cancelled biopic; 2001-2003)

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Status: Partially Lost

The Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith was a planned biopic written and directed by Richard Dutcher. It was to star Val Kilmer as the titular founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and would have been the most expensive film Dutcher had ever worked on. Unfortunately, the project fell apart late in pre-production and there have been few attempts to revive it since.

Background

Dutcher had been wanting to make a film about Smith ever since he decided to cater to a specific LDS audience and figured out a way to execute it properly after finishing up Brigham City. On April 19, 2001, it was announced that Dutcher would write and direct The Prophet with a $10 million budget, to be released by Excel Entertainment Group. Noted American historian Richard Bushman would act as a consultant while the late Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller would help provide some funding. The press release stated that the film would begin pre-production immediately with locations in Canada, New York, and Utah to be scouted.

The prospect of this project drew equal amounts excitement and hesitation from the LDS community; the latter was due to the darker elements in Dutcher's previous work and some wondered how he would tackle the subject matter considering the history surrounding Joseph Smith is itself contentious. Dutcher reassured those by stating that he took Smith's life very seriously and wanted to do it justice. Still, he noted that potential backers were secretly wanting to get their hands on the script so they could ask the General Authorities for their approval.

Despite these hassles, pre-production reportedly went smoothly to the point that a shooting schedule was arranged and the primary cast was locked. Among the most notable was Val Kilmer as Smith and F. Murray Abraham as Governor Ford.

On January 19, 2002, Dutcher shot B-roll footage of the early Saints fleeing Missouri in a harsh winter at the Fort Buenaventura State Park in Utah. The main filming would commence later that April according to a press release.

Setbacks

Filming was delayed due to a major investor pulling out as well as a potential Canadian strike where the majority of the film would be shot. The lack of funding continued throughout the rest of the year and the Deseret News reported on this impasse on June 24, 2003. In the article, it was reported that shooting was supposed to begin six weeks before the well dried up and that Dutcher was in debt from the ordeal. Despite this, he remained optimistic that filming would continue with or without full funds.

As for Miller, when he was preparing a film adaptation of The Work and the Glory, he mentioned to the press that Dutcher never came to him with plans for The Prophet, stating that he "kind of faded off into the sunset." Dutcher rebuked Miller's claim and after going out to lunch, they cleared things up and rectified their relationship.

On October 17, 2003, it was announced that Miller would help fund two upcoming projects for Dutcher, a sequel to God's Army, which became States of Grace, and The Prophet, the latter would commence shooting in the summer with a tentative 2005 release. Unfortunately a couple of weeks later, it was reported that Val Kilmer had dropped out of the film without giving an explanation.

With a hole in the project, Dutcher decided to film Falling instead (none of it using Miller's funds) but still held out hope for the project. In 2006, he met real-estate investor Rick Koerber who was interested in raising money for The Prophet (now renamed Worlds Without Ends) but the two realized that it would take up to $17 million to get it off the ground. They decided to do Evil Angel instead as it would generate enough revenue for them to make the film. This plan was ultimately unsuccessful and Koerber was soon indicted for conducting an elaborate Ponzi scheme.[1]

While Dutcher continued to talk about the project in several interviews since then, insisting that it would get made without announcing it beforehand, the film has yet to see the light of day.

Availability

Presumably, the Saints trek footage still exists as behind-the-scenes footage of it was used in a promo for Main Street Movie Co. back in 2009.[2]

Currently, the script along with various items related to production are available at the University of Utah's Special Collection.

Gallery

Dutcher speaks at length about the aborted project.

External Links

References