Apocalypto

[MacGuffin]

Gibson's "Apocalypto" Is Nigh
Source: E! Online (Repost from July 22, 2005)

In The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson revived the Aramaic language. For his next movie, he'll give new life to an ancient Greek term.

Apocalypto is the title of Gibson's next self-financed epic, Daily Variety reported Friday. Shooting is scheduled to begin in October, and a summer 2006 release is planned.

The film is described as an action picture, set 3,000 years in the past. Details otherwise are sketchy, and that's the way Gibson apparently wants it. According to Variety, the star requested studio execs read the script at his offices, less any pages get leaked.

As Gibson did on Passion, the Oscar-winning multihyphenate is directing, writing and producing, but not starring. Also as was done on Passion, his Icon Productions is footing the bill. While Hollywood studios were reluctant to distribute the religious epic that ended up grossing more than $611 million worldwide--the independent company Newmarket Films handled the honors--Disney beat out rivals for dibs on Apocalypto, the trade paper said.

Apocalypto is a Greek term meaning unveiling. It is not to be confused with Apocalypso, the 2003 album by vocalist Rita Calypso, or apparently even apocalyptic, the adjective of biblical doom. In fact, according to Variety, Gibson's Apocalypto is "not religious in theme."

In Passion, Gibson retold the final hours of Jesus' life, often in excruciating detail. Though movies dealing with religious figures hadn't been welcomed by the masses since the 1950s, Gibson's was, and found itself credited with bringing AWOL audiences back to theaters.

One group Passion didn't click with was Oscar voters. The film, accused sight unseen by some as a work that would fuel anti-Semitism, took home zero awards. Overall, the film earned three nominations, not one of which was for Gibson, who'd won two Oscars for directing and producing Braveheart.

Since the passions over Passion died down, Gibson has focused on television--he produced two short-lived shows last season, Clubhouse and Complete Savages--and fending off a stalker. Outside of a cameo on Complete Savages, and some supporting work in independent films, Gibson, the actor, hasn't starred in a Hollywood movie since 2002's Signs.


Mel Gibson to shoot epic movie in Mayan language

Actor Mel Gibson, who turned a Latin script on the crucifixion of Christ into box office gold last year, is in Mexico to shoot his latest film: an action movie shot entirely in an ancient Mayan tongue.

The star turned independent director was in the eastern state of Veracruz this week where he is to film "Apocalypto," a thriller set in an ancient Mayan settlement and shot in the Yucatec dialect.

"It's set before the Conquest, so there are no European faces, and we are using mostly indigenous people and actors from Mexico City," Gibson, sporting a long beard, said at a news conference in the port city of Veracruz.

"There's still a lot of mystery to the Mayan culture, but when all is said and done, it's just the backdrop to what I'm doing -- creating an action adventure of mythic proportions," he said, blinking before a bank of flash lights.

Gibson achieved fame with lucrative movies like the epic "Revolution," the sci-fi thriller "Signs" and the "Lethal Weapon" series and has become one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, commanding a fee of $25 million a film.

A devout Roman Catholic, he had the greatest hit of his career with last year's "The Passion of the Christ," which became the most successful independent film ever made despite its impenetrable Latin and Aramaic dialogue and stomach churning flogging sequences.

The 49-year-old star is making "Apocalypto" through his Los Angeles-based Icon production company with an undisclosed budget. It will be distributed by Disney, although the shooting script remains under wraps. Filming starts in November.

MAYAN VILLAGE

The runaway success of "The Passion of the Christ," which grossed more than $600 million worldwide, has given Gibson the financial freedom and industry clout to pursue projects like "Apocalypto."

"Above all, film is a business ...Independence is a really cool thing as you can be a bit more bold, and take a few more chances with what you do," he said.

Gibson said the story would be told through the eyes of a Mayan man, his family and village, and would touch on universal themes about "civilizations and what undermines them," but he declined to go into details about the plot.

He said Mayan myths from the Popol Vuh sacred texts formed part of his research for the film, which also drew on input from indigenous groups and Spanish mission texts from the 1700s and Mayan language translators.

"A lot of it I just made up, and when I checked it out with historians and archeologists, it wasn't that far wrong," he said.

After visiting Guatemala, the Yucatan Peninsula and Costa Rica to scope out locations, he settled on unspoiled jungle in Veracruz to frame the story.

Residents in the rain-swept streets of Veracruz, near where Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes first made landfall in 1519, gave their support to the project.

"It's just great that he's making a film about Mayan culture," marimba player Manuel Guerrera said as he prepared to play with a local street band in the city's colonial square.

"It's a neglected part of our heritage, and it makes us feel really proud," he added.

Gibson's popularity in Mexico has been boosted by his recent donation of $1 million to the victims of hurricanes that hit southern Mexico, including heavily Mayan areas.

[cron]

sigh, i was reading about it on the newspaper.  i've never ever seen a mel gibson movie but i hope he makes something good.   he better not fuck this source material, it's too good and relevant to screw it up hollywood style. besides, i wanted to adapt it first. fuck you mel gibson, i will do the good movie about the popol vuh one day.

[Pastor Parsley]

I really hope he can pull it off with a little more skill than he did with Passion.

I'll be pissed if I have to sit through another Hallmark grade film with white guys wearing nose prosthetics pretending to be Middle Eastern, or in this case Mayan.

[Pubrick]

I'll be pissed if I have to sit through another Hallmark grade film with white guys wearing nose prosthetics pretending to be Middle Eastern, or in this case Mayan.

"It's set before the Conquest, so there are no European faces, and we are using mostly indigenous people and actors from Mexico City,"

gibson will be my hero if he pulls this off properly.

he's doing what pta should be doing.. what malick and aronofsky ARE doing.

he's getting it done.

[matt35mm]

I'll be pissed if I have to sit through another Hallmark grade film with white guys wearing nose prosthetics pretending to be Middle Eastern, or in this case Mayan.

Yeah, what's up with pretending in movies?  I hate all this pretending.  It's like, what the fuck is so wrong with your life that you have to pretend everything?  Y'know?

[Gamblour.]

New Trailer here

Check out this flash of Mel Gibson during the super duper fast ending:


Release Date: 2006

Starring: Natives

[matt35mm]

Wow, you found that single frame pretty quickly.

Anyway, I think this looks interesting.  Many of the shots are very beautiful.  Some of it seems a bit silly, but it seems like it could be a pretty decent movie.  I just don't think it'll be a match for The New World, with which it seems to share a few similar ideas and probably story.

[Ultrahip]

How bout an "insert your own caption" thing for whatever Mel's thinking in that picture.

[matt35mm]

I don't think he could be thinking anything but "I got it MADE, nigga!"

I guess you could try to make things up and try to be all cute and funny... but what I just stated was undoubtably what he was thinking in that one moment in time.

[hedwig]

Gibson does Lynch:

=

[Ravi]

How bout an "insert your own caption" thing for whatever Mel's thinking in that picture.

Mel Gibson?  More like Mel Grizzled!

[Pozer]

How bout an "insert your own caption" thing for whatever Mel's thinking in that picture.

You mean, besides Angelina?

[cron]

bad ass. that last shot is bad ass. 2006, you better not dissapoint!

[meatball]

What is the guy on the far right thinking?

[Ultrahip]

What is the guy on the far right thinking?

"Pastrami? Again?"