Jesus Christ Superstar is a 1973 American musical Biblical drama film directed by Norman Jewison, co-written by Jewison and Melvyn Bragg, and choreographed by Robert Iscove. It is based on the 1970 concept album written by Tim Rice and composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which in turn spawned the 1971 stage musical. The film depicts the conflict between Judas and Jesus and the emotions and motivations of the main characters during the week of the crucifixion of Jesus. It stars Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman, and Barry Dennen in the principal roles.
Jesus Christ Superstar premiered at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C. on June 26, 1973,"Stereotype 'Superstar'". The Washington Post. June 25, 1973. B5. "The film premieres Tuesday evening at Washington's Uptown theater and opens to the public Wednesday." and was released theatrically in the United States on August 15, 1973. Despite criticism from a few religious groups and mixed reviews from critics, the film was a box office success. Neeley, Anderson, and Elliman were nominated for Golden Globe Awards in 1974 for their portrayals of Jesus, Judas, and Mary Magdalene, respectively. The film was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and the Academy Award for Best Original Score.
Plot
A theatrical troupe travel by bus to the Negev Desert to perform a modern-day re-enactment of the Passion of Christ told through song. Carl Anderson, already in character as Judas Iscariot, wanders away from the group as they prepare their props and costumes and dance to the overture.
Judas, a member of a humanitarian movement, is worried its leader, Jesus, has lost sight of their cause and he now preaches about being the son of God instead of speaking out on social injustices. He clashes with Jesus over his association with Mary Magdalene (historically accused of being a prostitute) and how he allows her to purchase expensive ointments for him instead of instructing her to help the poor. Jesus defends Mary and tells Judas the poor will always be there, but he will not. Meanwhile, temple priests led by Caiaphas and Annas, afraid that Jesus' popularity will undermine their authority and lead to conflict with their Roman occupiers, resolve to have Jesus executed.
As crowds greet Jesus upon his arrival in Jerusalem for Passover, Jesus rejects both Caiaphas' order to disperse them and his follower Simon's suggestion to lead them into an uprising against Rome. While in Jerusalem, Jesus furiously forces out money lenders and merchants from the temple and encounters a leper colony in the outskirts, where Mary Magdalane contemplates her complex feelings for him. Meanwhile, Judas expresses his concerns about Jesus to the priests, but resists betraying him until the priests offer him money, suggesting he could use it for charitable means, in return for helping them to arrest Jesus.
Jesus shares the Passover meal with his followers in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he doubts their loyalties, predicting that Peter will deny knowing him and Judas will betray him. An argument between Jesus and Judas ensues, with Judas angrily accusing Jesus of letting his ideals become corrupted. When the rest of his followers fall asleep, Jesus questions God's intention for him, ultimately deciding to accept what happens as being part of his plan. Judas fulfills his betrayal by leading Roman guards to Jesus, who allows himself to be arrested and he is brought to Caiaphas and Annas, who accuse him of blasphemy. The populace accuse Peter of following Jesus, which he denies, leading him, Mary Magdalane and the other followers to question if Jesus's predictions have come true.
Jesus is brought to Pontius Pilate, who does not deal with Jews and sends him to Herod instead, who urges Jesus to perform miracles for him and dismisses him as a fraud when he does not. Judas becomes overwhelmed with grief, regret and confusion over his actions and, blaming God for making him the betrayer, hangs himself. Jesus is tried by Pilate, who believes him to be delusional but has committed no crime, yet he is pressured by crowds to condemn Jesus to death. Confused and enraged at Jesus' inexplicable resignation and refusal to defend himself, and unable to quell the crowds even after having Jesus flogged, Pilate is left with no option but to order Jesus' execution.
While Judas' spirit questions the significance of Jesus' death, Jesus is led away to Golgotha and crucified. After he dies on the cross, the cast, no longer in character, board their bus and leave, with Barry Dennen, Yvonne Elliman and Carl Anderson the only ones who seem to notice that the actor who played Jesus is missing. The film ends on a lingering shot of the cross that was used to crucify Jesus, set against the setting sun.
Cast
Production
Development During filming of Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Barry Dennen, who had a minor role in the film, provided a concept album by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice to Norman Jewison, Jesus Christ Superstar (1970), where Dennen voiced Pilate. At that time, the LP, despite its title song being a hit single, was "met with a massive dose of British indifference, even condescension", recalled Lloyd Webber, and was thought of by Fiddler on the Roof producer Patrick Palmer as an "obscure album from England" when Jewison first obtained it. Jewison described himself as "curiously moved" and "flooded with exciting visual images" when first hearing the record, amazed by its ability to execute so much without spoken lines. He first publicly expressed interest in directing a film based on the album in an interview at the New York premiere of Fiddler on the Roof: "I could see it as an exciting innovative movie just as it was—just music and lyrics, no dialogue."
Jewison, after finding out MCA Records owned the film rights, contacted Lew Wasserman for the chance of directing a film adaptation of the musical. Although other directors were considered, Jewison's past filmography plus his blueprint for the film influenced Universal to hire him. A meeting between Jewison, Lloyd Webber, and Universal Pictures executive Ned Tanen soon followed. Lloyd Webber agreed to the film project, citing Jewison's experience with Fiddler on the Roof, an adaptation of a musical with religious themes.
The latest stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar before the film was a Robert Stigwood-produced Broadway run in 1970. Budgeted at more than $1,000,000, not counting Stigwood's own financial contributions, the show profited $700,000 with an overcall $8,557.83. However, its run was shorter than planned. Professional reviews were overwhelmingly abysmal, and, commercially, the show declined by its eighth month as a result of decrease in advance ticket purchases and prices being too high for the show's young fanbase. Within 11 months, the run sustained with Sunday matinees and discount prices for certain shows. Broadway insiders felt it would last up until the film adaptation's release.
Work on the script began with drafting from Tim Rice. His vision was an epic film in the style of Ben-Hur (1959), summarizing his workflow as figuring out "which massive visual effect accompanied which song". However, Jewison's concept differed, and thus Rice's draft was scrapped. Alongside Melvyn Bragg, Jewison wrote a screenplay as a pastiche that combined biblical and modern elements of culture, particularly with its theater group framing device. Bragg, who had already established himself as a television writer, was a co-writer of the screenplay. He described entering the project as "a sort of fluke", getting signed only after a colleague asked "Would you like a go?" Summarized Bragg, "all the good bits were what [I] worked on", although Bragg did provide input to Jewison about what he perceived to be the director's overuse of crowds in shots. Bragg and Jewison wrote the script while scouting locations, as moving around deserts in Israel while the concept album played on a tape recorder immersed them in the film's setting.
Casting Jesus Christ Superstar was the first film credit for all actors except Dennen and Josh Mostel. The cast consisted mostly of actors from the Broadway show, with Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson starring as Jesus and Judas respectively. Neeley had played a reporter and a leper in the Broadway version, and understudied the role of Jesus. Anderson also understudied Judas, but took over the role on Broadway and Los Angeles when Ben Vereen fell ill. Along with Dennen, Yvonne Elliman (Mary Magdalene), and Bob Bingham (Caiaphas) reprised their Broadway roles in the film. (Elliman, like Dennen, had also appeared on the original concept album.) Philip Toubus appeared in both the Broadway production and in the touring production.
According to casting notes Jewison wrote on stationery paper at the Beverly Hills Hotel, he considered Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Barry Gibb, Robert Plant, and Ian Gillan for the titular character. Gillan, who played Jesus on the concept album, turned down Jewison's offer because he thought he would please fans more by touring with Deep Purple. The producers also considered Micky Dolenz (from The Monkees) and David Cassidy to play Jesus. Then, in 1971, Jewison drove from Palm Springs, California to Los Angeles to view Neeley on stage in a musical adaptation of The Who's Tommy (1969), after an invitation from Neeley's agent. Neeley did not appear the night Jewison arrived, as he was taking a break. However, Neeley, wearing Levi's clothing and a fake mustache and beard, encountered Jewison at a motel the next morning to apologize about his absence from the performance, his rationale being illness. Following a 20-minute meeting, and without seeing Neeley perform the part, Jewison said to his production partner Pat Palmer that "I had a hunch that I had found our Jesus".
In responding to a question from the Vatican Press about why Jewison cast a black actor for Judas, the director responded that Anderson "tested along with many others in London, and as always happens, the film really told us what to do. The test was so successful that there really wasn't any doubt in my mind at all that he was the most talented actor to play the role".
Filming
Shooting of Jesus Christ Superstar took place at more than 20 locations in four Israeli camp bases, those being Jerusalem, Dead Sea, Beersheba, and Nazareth; the most utilized location was Herodium in the West Bank. The budget was set at just under $3.5 million, partially supported by the Israeli government; in addition to a 23.5% rebate on import of foreign currency, some senior officials, who were trying to start an Israeli Film Centre, funded the project. Jewison, in return, wrote a piece for Variety promoting Israeli areas for shooting locations. As he wrote, "there is a spirit in the country and among its people that grabs you, and if you spend any time there you will never be the same." For their performances, Elliman, Neeley, and Anderson each received (), while Jewison was paid a reduced fee of $15,000 (), in exchange for 10% of the film's worldwide profits.