By Chauntelle Plewe
The long-awaited 'The Book of Mormon Movie' is showing to its first audience Monday, August 11, and opening in Utah in September, and the producers are keeping an ear to the ground to listen for public reaction.
The creators'' goal is to get people to read the Book of Mormon, said Gary Rogers, the film''s producer, writer and director. They want members to pick it up and read it again and for those who have never read it, to find an interest in it, he said.
'The movie certainly cannot nor should not ever replace the book,' Rogers said. 'Many wonderful things in the Book of Mormon are left out in the movie. We refer the viewer back to the book itself for the most complete and accurate account. It''s designed to hopefully drive people to the book.'
The producers tried to stay as close to the Book of Mormon as possible, though they took some creative liberty to make it a feature film filled with action, adventure, drama and romance.
The Book of Mormon has enough of all these things to make for an intriguing film, but some ambiguities had to be ironed out. For example, the scriptures don''t say how many sisters Nephi had, so the producers had to make a decision and pick a number.
Little is said about Sam in the Book of Mormon. Kirby Heybourne ('The Singles Ward,' 'The RM'), the actor who plays Sam, was able to take creative license with his character based on the little he could find about him in the scriptures.
This concept of filling in the blanks is one of the reasons the Church couldn''t produce a movie like this, Rogers said. If the church had produced it, some added things might be taken as doctrine that shouldn''t, but independent filmmakers are free to enhance the story.
The LDS Motion Picture Studios started production of a movie on the Book of Mormon, but it was never released. Dave Hales, co-producer of 'The Book of Mormon Movie,' worked on it while attending BYU film school. The Church has not endorsed this movie nor any other LDS movie.
Though they have not endorsed it, Rogers said that past presidents of the Church have wanted this kind of a project for a long time.
President Spencer W. Kimball said he wanted to have the full story of Mormonism in every movie center in every part of the globe.
'For years I have been waiting for someone to do justice in recording in song and story and painting and sculpture the story of the Restoration, the reestablishment of the kingdom of God on earth.' Kimball said in the July 1977 Ensign. 'Our writers, our moving picture specialists, with the inspiration of heaven, should tomorrow be able to produce a masterpiece that would live forever.'
President Hinckley often asks members to help missionaries in any way they can. Rogers sees this movie as a great missionary tool because non-members may watch the movie and then read the Book of Mormon to get the whole story. The movie was not created solely for members, Rogers said. He wants members to invite their friends to the movie.
Many members and non-members have commented on the trailer they have seen online, some positively, some negatively.
Both Rogers and Hales said they realize they can''t please everyone, but said they want they movie to touch people and change their lives.
'The number-one challenge is to take a book that means so much to so many people, and try to recreate it to make everyone happy,' Hales said.
Rogers said from the moment he saw 'The Ten Commandments' in 1956, he thought someday somebody should make a movie about the Book of Mormon, though not in his wildest dreams did he think it would be him. He started working seriously on the project in 1998.
In 2001, Rogers had all the funding he needed, so he sold his business and prepared to devote the rest of his life to the production of the Book of Mormon movies. Then the world fell apart on September 11, and so did his funding.
For 15 months, Rogers told members of the church about his project and received all the funding he needed. These investors are not necessarily wealthy, he said, they just had a little bit of discretionary money. They wanted to see the project done and be successful, Rogers said.
'The Book of Mormon Movie' premieres September 10 at Jordan Commons, and will be released throughout Utah on September 12. Rogers said it will open throughout the world if enough people buy advanced tickets. This episode is the first of eight or nine volumes, and covers 1 Nephi and part of 2 Nephi.
Check tomorrow''s edition of The Daily Universe for audience responses from the exclusive screening.