According to local film critic Sean Means, there’s a new movie coming out in May that uses the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre as a backdrop for a “romantic drama.” The MMM, if you don’t know, is the historical event that the LDS Church wishes everyone would just forget about. The short version is that in September 1857, a wagon train of settlers bound for the west coast was attacked as it passed through Utah by a group of men variously described as Paiute Indians, Mormons dressed as Indians, or a mixture of both. Most of the settlers, some 120 men, women, and older children, were killed; a handful of younger kids survived, apparently spared by the attackers. The big question that has always swirled at the heart of this incident is, was the attack carried out independently or on orders from the Church? Needless to say, it’s a touchy subject in these parts, and has given rise to all kinds of conspiracy theories involving secret Mormon vigilante groups and official cover-ups.

All of which should make for an interesting (not to mention controversial) movie. But the thing that really caught my eye was the casting of Terence Stamp as Brigham Young. Yes, that’s right, General Zod himself will be playing Brother Brigham, the most famous leader of the Mormon Church and the founder of Salt Lake City. There’s no word on whether Stamp will be crushing hands or shooting laser beams from his eyes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he does. Because, you know, he’s Zod. It just won’t be right if he doesn’t heat-vision something…

(The title of the movie, incidentally, is September Dawn. I’ve found no official website for it, but its IMDB entry has already garnered one angry comment denouncing it as inaccurate and biased against the Church. There is no indication that the commenter has actually seen the movie in question, but then that’s how it usually goes whenever the MMM comes up. As I said, it’s a touchy subject.)