‘Temptation’ Video to Rekindle Fundamentalist Ire?

When “The Last Temptation of Christ” was languishing in theaters last year amid protests by fundamentalists offended by its unconventional depiction of Christ, some industry officials were speculating that potentially curious movie goers might simply wait for the home-video release, figuring the furor would have died down by then.

To some degree it has.

With MCA Home Video set to release the “Last Temptation” home video June 29, at $89.95, home-video executives say a low-key petition campaign against the video is under way by people who consider the movie blasphemous, but they have seen no evidence of any sort of protest to rival the one directed at Universal last year in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the movie from being released.

“The opposition may become stronger and more intense as the release date gets closer,” said Meir Hed, co-owner of the Westside Videotheque chain, which will stock the movie.

That doesn’t mean that the Martin Scorsese-directed film will be readily available throughout the country, however.

According to industry executives, “Last Temptation” tapes should be fairly easy to locate in most major urban areas, particularly in the West and Northeast. But in small towns, especially in the Midwest and the South, finding rental copies might be very difficult, they say. Many video stores, hoping to avoid losing customers, won’t stock it.

“In some of these small communities, the church is a powerful force,” said John Thrasher of Tower Video. “If they don’t want their local video store to carry it, they can raise a fuss and that retailer has to listen--if he wants to keep his customers. He doesn’t have a lot of options.”

A Tupelo, Miss.-based organization called the American Family Assn. is orchestrating a national campaign against the home-video release. Music Plus executive Mitch Perliss said stores in his chain have received petitions from that group asking them not to stock the tape.

Don Beehler, communications director for the Campus Crusade for Christ at Arrowhead Springs, predicted that an informal, grass-roots protest by concerned Christians also will be quietly mounted. “People will just go to their local video stores and ask them not to stock it,” he said. “They’ll threaten to take their business elsewhere. That’s all that’s really needed.”

So far, most of the big chains haven’t been intimidated by the opposition. Executives at Palmer Video, Music Plus and Tower Video say their stores will carry “Last Temptation.” Only Blockbuster Video, which has nearly 700 stores around the country, has announced that its won’t carry the film--a decision that apparently was based on feedback from its store managers.

Echoing the views of other executives who will stock the movie, Peter Balner of Palmer Video said, “It’s a freedom of speech issue. We can’t be intimidated out of carrying a title just because one faction opposes it. This is America, not Nazi Germany.”

Allan Caplan, who heads the Applause chain in the Midwest, agreed. “The movie was nominated for an Oscar (for best director),” he said. “It’s a legitimate movie, not some C-picture. People may not agree with its point of view, but it’s still a movie some people want to see. Why shouldn’t the people who want to see it be able to see it?”

The executives all were apprehensive about possible reprisals from fundamentalists, however. Music Plus’s Mitch Perliss said he feared two possible tactics: “Some people might rent the movie and destroy it--even though they’re liable for the full price. Some people might steal the display boxes (the empty boxes on the store shelves). If the boxes are gone, customers will think we don’t carry the movie.”

The deadline for ordering “Last Temptation” is Tuesday. There is no indication from MCA Home Video about the number of orders they’ve already received because company executives have maintained a low-profile, no-comment position since its low-key announcement of the release.

But one prominent industry executive who requested anonymity estimated that MCA has sold about 100,000 copies to retailers and distributors--an impressive total for a movie that grossed just $8.1 million at the box office, and all the more remarkable considering that MCA has done no advertising or promotion for the home-video release.

Based on that sales figure, the executive speculated that MCA would make at least $4.5 million on “Last Temptation”: 100,000 copies at about $50 per copy wholesale would produce $5 million, less $500,000 for duplication and packaging costs.