Alec Guinness was also offered the role of Noah.
Richard Harris and Franco Nero play brothers-turned-enemies Cain and Abel, and only a year later would play friends-turned-enemies Arthur and Lancelot in Camelot.
Dino De Laurentiis originally announced that this would be the first in a series of feature films based on the books of the bible.
Franco Nero was dubbed by an uncredited actor in this film. It is possible, though, not confirmed, that several of the other Italian actors were dubbed as well, although the actors themselves can be seen mouthing the words.
Filming of The Tower of Babel sequence was disrupted when Egyptian extras staged a rock-throwing riot.
French director Robert Bresson was hired in 1964 by producer Dino De Laurentiis as director. When he shot his first scene - the deluge - he requested the use of all the animals in Rome city zoo. The producers complied, but upon checking the daily rushes saw that the only thing Bresson filmed was the tracks of the animals upon a sandy beach. They were furious and Bresson was fired, John Huston took over the project, delaying production a further six months.
In some cities (such as Atlanta, GA) this film, which was shot in Dimension 150, a "curved screen" process, was not shown on a curved screen during its first run, despite the fact that there existed Cinerama theaters in those cities. This did not happen with the second and last film released in Dimension 150, the much more successful Patton.
It was John Huston's original idea to have Charles Chaplin play Noah. However, Chaplin didn't much like the idea of appearing in a picture directed by someone else, and Huston wound up playing the role himself. Similarly, Huston wanted Igor Stravinsky to score the film. For unspecified reasons, this was never done, either.
One of the first mainstream American films to feature male and female nudity (albeit artfully filmed in a light-and-shadow style) in the Garden of Eden sequences. Reportedly, neither Michael Parks nor Ulla Bergryd used body doubles for these scenes.
Promo material for the US release listed the title as "The Bible...in the Beginning." The actual on-screen title is "THE BIBLE in the Beginning..."
This was the first film shot in the Dimension 150 process. This process was credited as simply "D-150".