Director Damien Leone said that several big studios showed interest in financing this movie based on the unexpected success of Terrifier 2 (2022), even without a full script. However, he turned them all down because he is certain that they would never let him film the opening scene alone, which he describes as "very controversial". Leone commented that the only reason that he can be so uncompromising in his depiction of horror and gore is because he finances his movies independently, creates all the special effects himself to keep costs down, and has no big studio breathing down his neck to make the movie more mainstream.
Frank Stallone was in talks to play Jesus but turned it down.