LEWISTON — The region’s grandest church, the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, will soon serve as a film location.

The makers of “Richard 3” hope to fill the Gothic structure in August with as many as 1,500 costumed extras.

“We need it to be huge,” said filmmaker Mike Miclon, best-known as the founder of the Oddfellow Theater in Buckfield. “We’re holding a coronation.”

The movie is a comedic retelling of Shakespeare’s “Richard III.” And it’s Miclon’s baby.

He wrote the screenplay, which was adapted from his Monty Python-inspired stage production. He plans to direct and co-edit the film. And he cast himself as the humpbacked anti-hero.

Miclon’s version is titled “Richard 3.”

He’s been scouting possible Maine and New England locations for nearly a year, looking for castle-like structures that fit 15th-century England when the real Richard III sat on the throne.

Miclon was thinking about the coronation — “this is Richard’s bash” — when the basilica came to mind.

“I know that is the most beautiful church I’ve been in,” the Buckfield native said.

He called and talked with a caretaker, who prepared him for bad news.

“He said, ‘We’ve never done anything like this before,'” Miclon said. Five minutes later, the caretaker called back. Miclon was in.

Monsignor Marc Caron gave his permission, if not his blessing.

Miclon’s crew can spend up to eight days in the century-old church. But there are rules. He can’t shoot on Saturday or Sunday. If there’s a funeral, the production must clear out. And they can’t touch the altar.

“I said, ‘Absolutely. No problem,'” Miclon said.

The church will give Miclon’s tiny production an expensive-looking setting. Plans call for the production to get to work there during the week of Aug. 20, with the biggest scenes slated for the 22nd.

Miclon hopes to fill it with people steeped in Richard’s era, folks who attend Renaissance fairs and have their own costumes. He plans to shoot in the evening when he is likely to draw the biggest crowds of regular people who might come simply to witness the spectacle.

He has created an e-mail address where people can volunteer: [email protected].

Miclon manned a table Thursday at the Androscoggin Business to Business Trade Show at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. He raffled off a speaking role in the movie as he tried to add sponsors to his production.

The money would help cover the film’s $175,000 budget. While that’s tiny by Hollywood standards, it’s a lot of money in Maine, he said.

Miclon plans to submit the finished product to the Sundance Film Festival, the premiere independent film festival in the U.S.

Once the 30-day shoot ends, Miclon and Director of Photography Jay Childs plan to spend a year to complete the film.

“Ive seen a lot of bad independent film,” Miclon said, “and I don’t want this to be one.”

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