The movie is based on the first two books of the Book of Mormon: First Nephi and Second Nephi. The source material contains a lot of theological discussion, and parables, some of which have been cut from the adaptation due to their unsuitability as narrative material. Some of the visionary material is retained. The film starts in Jerusalem around 600 BC, where we meet patriarch Lehi, his wife Sariah, and their four sons: Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi. Lehi and his wife are devout believers in God, as are their sons, Nephi and Sam. Laman and Lemuel are more wayward and do not tend to agree with the commands of God or their father and brother Nephi. While in Jerusalem, Lehi prophesies that the city will be destroyed. This elicits a negative reaction from many people, to the point of their wanting to kill him. The family flees into the desert at this point and becomes nomadic. While in the wilderness, Lehi sends Nephi and his brothers back to Jerusalem to try and get hold of the Brass Plates, as commanded by God. The Brass Plates are inscribed with ancient scriptures and records, that they need to take with them on their journey and which will form part of the basis of the Book of Mormon. However, these plates are within the compound of a powerful and violent man called Laban, who has many men under his command. They first try and persuade Laban to hand over the plates, but eventually a fight ensues and they are forced to flee. One of Laban's servants, Ishmael ends up defecting to Lehi's side and joins his family in the desert. Ishmael and Lehi's families intermarry, but Ishmael dies in the Arabian wilderness. The group is ordered to build a boat to take them to the new Promised Land, which they do with limited resources. Laman and Lemuel once more start complaining about this idea, but they all end up boarding this ship and leaving the Old World for the New. They arrive in the New World after this voyage, but the quarrel within the family continues. After Lehi dies in the promised land, Laman and Lemuel, and their families, rebel again, and turn to evil things. The Lamanites separate from the Nephites. Because of this, Nephi and his allies have to escape them, and once more go into the wilderness.
Rogers's inspiration was the Cecil B. DeMille 1956 version of The Ten Commandments. He envisioned The Book of Mormon as one long historical epic. His plan was to make nine films that cover the entire story of the book. The film's length is two hours, and it was revealed on the DVD commentary that the first cut of the film was two hours and forty minutes.
Casting
was cast as Nephi because of his strong resemblance to the art of Arnold Friberg. He had never read the Book of Mormon prior to his casting. Danby is a devout Lutheran, and while at first he didn't feel comfortable in making the film due to religious differences, he has said in an interview for The Hollywood Reporter that he took the role to gain experience as an actor.
Filming
The desert scenes were filmed in Utah in the spring, and it was very cold. The "great and spacious building" was a five-foot miniature. The boat does not appear in the theatrical version of the scene in which the family arrives in the promised land. It was digitally added to that scene for the DVD version. directed and filmed the behind the scenes portion on the DVD release. The costume designer used Mormon art and illustrations to guide her selections. The film was mentioned in Paul C. Gutjahrs 2012 book The Book of Mormon: A Biography.
Release
The film was rated PG-13 for "a scene of violence", having contained an image of Nephi with blood splatter on his face after beheading Laban. This image was removed for home media releases, and the film received a PG rating on DVD.
Box office
Produced for $1.5 million, Book of Mormon opened in 29 theaters on September 12, 2003 and made $114,573 in its first weekend, ranking number 41 in the domestic box office. The film played for 35 weeks before closing on May 13, 2004, its widest release being 38 theaters, and it had grossed $1,680,020. It is the fourth highest-grossing film in the history of LDS cinema.
Critical reception
The film was widely panned by Mormon and non-Mormon critics. Variety described it as "ell meaning but often as tediously earnest as a Sunday sermon". In the Bloggernacle, A Motley Vision gave it a grade of C–. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes scored 17% of 6 critics giving the film a positive review.
