No Religious Role for Kilmer

I found this story about no religious role for Val Kilmer as an interesting casting idea. Kilmer was in the running for the lead in a pro-Mormon movie as founder Joseph Smith but was turned down. After playing former porn star John Holmes in Wonderland I am surprised that a studio affiliated with the Mormon Church, an organization well known for it's conservative values would even have Kilmer in the running for the lead as Joseph Smith.
Is the fact that Kilmer was in the running for the Joseph Smith role in the first place a statement about the power of the marketplace or that he did not get the role say something else? Personally, I'm not really sure what it means.