Gibson's "Apocalypto" Is Nigh

Fri., Jul. 22, 2005 4:45 PM PDT by

In The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson revived Aramaic. For his next movie, he'll give Mayan its shot at the big time.

Apocalypto, Gibson's latest self-financed epic, will be spoken entirely in the tongue of the ancient civilization that dominated what is now Central America and Mexico, Daily Variety is reporting. Shooting is scheduled to begin in Mexico in October; a summer 2006 release is planned.

The film is described as an action picture, set 500 years in the past. (Original reports pegged the film's ancient-ness at 3,000 years.) Details otherwise are sketchy, and that's the way Gibson apparently wants it. The star requested studio execs read the script at his offices, less any pages get leaked, Variety said. And, per the trade paper, the script's first page features quite a grabber: "The dialogue you are about to read will not be spoken in English."

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.

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," even if apocalypse watchers and Mayan buffs share a common interest: The Mayan calendar, which comes with its own expiration date--2012.

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.

(Updated July 26, 2005 at 11:35 a.m. PT.)

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