Jesus of Nazareth is a carpenter in the Roman client state, Judea. He is torn between his own desires and his knowledge of God's plan for him. His friend Judas Iscariot is sent to kill him for collaborating with … See more

• Willem Dafoe as Jesus
• Harvey Keitel as Judas Iscariot
• Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene
• Harry Dean Stanton See more

Martin Scorsese had wanted to make a film version of Jesus' life since childhood. While he was directing Barbara Hershey in the 1972 film Boxcar Bertha, she gave him a copy of the Kazantzakis novel. Scorsese optioned the book in the late 1970s, and he gave it to See more

The film's musical soundtrack, composed by Peter Gabriel, received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Original Score - Motion Picture in 1988 and was released on CD with the title Passion, which won a Grammy in 1990 for Best New Age Album. The film's score … See more

The film opened on August 12, 1988. The film was later screened as a part of the Venice International Film Festival on September 7, 1988. In response to the film's acceptance as a part of the festival's lineup, director Franco Zeffirelli removed his film See more

Box office
The Last Temptation of Christ opened in 123 theaters on August 12, 1988, in the United States and Canada, and grossed $401,211 in its opening weekend. At the end of its run, it had grossed $8,373,585 in the United States … See more

Terrorist attack
On October 22, 1988, an Integralist Catholic group set fire to the Saint Michel cinema in Paris while it was showing the film. Shortly after midnight, an incendiary device ignited under a seat in the less supervised underground room, … See more