relationships he had with people and with God and the way he felt about Him – it becomes fascinating when you follow everything that happened to David from his childhood to his death." "What made David fascinating were his strengths and weaknesses", said Beresford. Beresford watched a number of Biblical films and was most impressed by The Gospel According to St Matthew and Jesus of Nazareth. In June 1982 Beresford said he would make the film for Paramount, after he made Tender Mercies. In February 1983 he said the budget would be $16 million and "it's got an absolutely wonderful script. I think we've gotten away from all of those old cliches of Hollywood biblical movies." "What I want to do is make a different sort of Biblical film", he said. "The ones Hollywood made in the past were far too reverential. It was as if the moment they got hold of the Bible they became awestruck. The actors fell over themselves to be sententious and all those heavenly choirs and shafts of light... The only way is for actors to speak the lines normally not as if they were inverted commas." "Religion has to come into King David, because it was part of everybody's everyday life then", said Beresford. "People used to talk about God like we talk about going to a restaurant. They'd say: 'God did this. God did that.' But the emotional experiences in the film will be easily recognizable because they're so universal." Beresford wanted American actors rather than English ones to give the movie a more contemporary feel. The producer said he personally chose Richard Gere to play the lead. However a later report said Beresford wanted to use an unknown and Gere was forced upon him. "Bruce knew what the reaction would be toward Gere in the role", said the source. "He knew it would be ridiculous, but, once he'd signed on, he couldn't just walk off. He knew that if he did, he'd never work in Hollywood again." The film was originally going to be shot in Israel. Eventually it was decided this was impractical as Israel did not have any buildings older than the Roman Empire. They considered Morocco and Tunisia before settling on Italy. Filming Filming started in May 1984 in England, by which time the budget was $23 million. Locations included Matera and Craco both in Basilicata, and Campo Imperatore