December of last year saw the release of of Better Man, a biopic of English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams in which he is portrayed as a computer-generated chimpanzee. Spurred on by the critical success of that film, BYU’s film department has announced its intentions to give the same treatment to the Church’s ninth prophet.

Holy Man: The David O. MonKay Story, due for release this September, adapts the life of David O. McKay with remarkable accuracy. According to producers, every aspect of the film is entirely true to how it happened in real life, “obvious exception aside.”

“Our biggest inspiration was the beautiful example of faith and leadership set by the late President McKay during his many years of honorable service to God’s church,” said director Clayton Wood. “Our second biggest inspiration was definitely monkeys.”

The project is set to be the most expensive in the history of BYU-produced media, requiring considerable resources devoted to CGI. The film was originally set to star an actual chimpanzee named Scooter, though this plan was quickly abandoned. Producer Jan Christenson attributed Scooter’s departure to “religious tensions.”

The role of McKay has since been filled by local stage actor James Ellison, who performs each scene via motion-capture. In order to prepare for the role, Ellison read multiple biographies of the prophet, and visited the primate exhibit at the Hogle Zoo every day for a month. “One wonders what it must be like to lead a worldwide church while being a monkey,” he said.

The producers of Holy Man believe that the film has the potential to become a classic of Latter-Day Saint cinema. However, it has not been without controversy. When contacted for comment, the estate of David O. McKay responded, “I think it’s pretty clear that President McKay was not, in fact, a monkey.”