Mel Gibson ranked 3rd in Forbes' Top 100 Celebrities

Mel Gibson, director of Apocalypto, ranked 3rd in the "Top 100 Celebrities" of Forbes this year, behind only Oprah Winfrey and Tiger Woods: "Offering bulk discounts on DVDs to churches is far from standard Hollywood marketing procedure, but it worked for Gibson. After an underwhelming theatrical rerelease of his Passion of the Christ, he got doubly rich off video and DVD sales, landing him right behind Oprah and Lucas in pay this year. Only a few movies are in the works, [actually, only Apocalypto has been announced] but Gibson can afford to scale back." Click here for this year's raw numbers on Mel Gibson at Forbes. He placed ahead of such notable celebrities as George Lucas, Steven Spielburg, Madonna & Tom Cruise. In a Forbes poll - taken by almost 90,000 readers, Mel Gibson also placed 3rd for the question, "Who can't you get enough of?" (behind Johnny Depp and Oprah Winfrey). Mel Gibson was ranked 1st in this same list the year he released The Passion of the Christ: "Hollywood turned its back on his bloody Bible flick, a cross that Mel was only too happy to carry himself. With The Passion of the Christ bringing in more than $600 million at the box office, he is likely to make at least $150 million more in the next year. Mel made the top 10 in every category we measured this year: money, magazine covers, press clippings, Web presence, TV/radio hits." Click here for 2004's raw numbers on Mel Gibson at Forbes.

An example of Apocalypto misinformation

Today blogcritics.org issued a 2006 Movie Preview. Even if this was posted in the "opinion" section and not the "news" section, their summary of Mel Gibson's Apocalypto is fairly typical of the poorly-researched, incomplete or just plain wrong ideas floating around: Apocalypto (July) An epic story of the Mayan civilization on the decline several hundred years before Columbus sailed to the New World. Filled with superstition, omens and an unintelligible native language, this follow-up to The Passion caused director Mel Gibson to go ZZ Top with a crazy beard." To make this simple - a bullet list of the problems with this review: I'm not sure where they got a release date of "July" - but we've never heard a date that late mentioned anywhere. Several hundred years before? Rumors have been pretty consistent that the movie is placed much closer to the arrival of the European explorers. Superstition? Omens? As much as any ancient culture has - maybe. Unintelligible? What foreign language is intelligible to non-speakers? Follow-up to The Passion? Apocalypto has nothing to do with The Passion. I think that about does it. Oh - wait - one more: ... Mel shaved the beard. Hope you weren't too attached to it.

About what you'd expect from the Apocalypto official movie site

The Apocalypto Official Movie Website is hosting a survey which oddly seems to be mostly about Disney's new movie Eight Below. Why is this? Your guess is as good as ours. Anyway, if you have some time to spare and you want to voice your annoyance about the lack of available content, then maybe this survey is for you!

Who is Mauricio Amuy Tenorio?

Mauricio Amuy Tenorio (29) will be playing the role of a Maya chief in Apocalypto (contrary to earlier speculation, the lead role of Jaguar Paw has gone to Rudy Youngblood). Mauricio is a model and actor from Costa Rica, retains Mexican citizenship, and was awarded the first Celebrity with a Big Heart Award in 2003: From an early age, Mauricio Amuy learned from his parents the joy of helping unfortunate children. He supports Proyecto San Francisco de Asis, an organization that helps abandoned children in Costa Rica secure a place to live and keeps them off the streets and away from drugs and prostitution. In March 2004, Mauricio will be in Costa Rica to assist in fundraising for this project helping it to expand into other Latin American countries. Mauricio also supports Children of Refugees, a program helping to provide food to children in Latin America. Mauricio sees the need to help children in Peru affected by contaminated water as well as children with AIDS and cancer in other countries who need immediate assistance. He is always willing to take time from his busy schedule to help the children's causes as much as possible. Mauricio's numerous modeling and acting credits include many runway fashion shows ranging from Levis Jeans to Yves St. Laurent and the Helen Yarmak couture collection in New York City. He has worked in Japan, Europe, Latin America and the USA. He has appeared on a billboard in New York's Times Square as well as in national ad campaigns for Macy's and Wal-Mart. He has been featured in such magazines as "Teleguia" (Costa Rica), "Metropolis" (Japan) and "Vogue" (Germany). His acting credits include film, video and television roles in "Spider-Man II", "Juwanna Mann", "Sex in The City", "Guiding Light" and many others. He is also depicted as the "Michael The Arc Angel" as painted by young surrealist artist Angelo Rusciano a private masterpiece for artist Mary J. Blige. Read more. Here is frame from the Apocalypto teaser trailer with Mauricio Amuy in it:

Reading the Popol Vuh to pass the time until Apocalypto

Do you have some time to spare before this summer's release of Apocalypto? Then how about reading the Popol Vuh (the Mayan bible) which Mel Gibson admits to have consulted while researching Mayan culture and myth for his Apocalypto movie script? A short quote from Mel Gibson: "He [Mel Gibson] 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." [source] Click here to learn more about the Popol Vuh (Wikipedia)

A quick checkup on our search engine rankings (2)

We're making progress on the search engine index! Google search term/phrase: Apocalypto ...................................#9 ...(up from #17 ) Apocalypto + news .......................#4 ...(up from #6 ) Apocalypto + info ..........................#6 ... (new term) Apocalypto + information .............#2 ... (up from #8) Apocalypto + movie ........................#30 ... (new term) Now all we need is some more news or information (info) about the movie Apocalypto.

This week two years ago...

Mel Gibson's 3rd movie, The Passion of the Christ, opened in U.S. theaters.

Parthenon Entertainment to do special on collapse of the Mayan Empire

From C21media.net: Parthenon digs into Mayan mystery UK producer/distributor Parthenon Entertainment is launching a factual special about the collapse of the Mayan empire, entitled Who Killed the Maya? The programme, available in April, comes on the heels of the new Mel Gibson-directed movie Apocalypto, which details the struggles of one man at the end of the Mayan empire. Parthenon's film is based on hieroglyphic evidence that sheds new light on one of the enigmas of ancient history: why the Maya civilisation, which thrived for over 2,000 years in Central America, suddenly disappeared. Carl Hall, MD at Parthenon, said: "Who killed the Maya is a really hot topic at the moment. The fact that the issue is coming to the fore in a major Hollywood movie only highlights the significance of this subject."

James Horner confirmed for Apocalypto music

Our earlier-reported news item has now been confirmed: "James Horner had a busy year in 2005, scoring four pictures, and 2006 is shaping up to be similarly demanding for the composer.The Good Shepherd, Robert De Niro's CIA drama, and Apocalypto, a 16th Century action/adventure directed Mel Gibson, join Steven Zaillian's All The King's Men on Horner's 2006 schedule."

And now for something completely different.

Something to help pass the time as we wait for more news on Apocalypto: [thanks to creator D.J. Coffman for permission]

Who is composing the soundtrack for Apocalypto?

Award-winning composer James Horner is composing the orchestral score for Apocalypto. [which you can pre-order here at Amazon.com!] James Horner wrote the music for the first movie Mel Gibson directed (The Man Without a Face) and received Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for the score he wrote for Mel Gibson's second movie, Braveheart. He is also famous for composing the soundtracks for Titanic, A Beautiful Mind, Field of Dreams, Apollo 13 & Aliens. You can view his complete list of movie soundtracks (+100!) right here. Update: click here for the advance track listing of the Apocalypto movie score! [thanks to reader Michael for submitting this tip]

A quick checkup on our search engine rankings

We're making progress on the search engine index! Google search term/phrase: Apocalypto ...................................#17 Apocalypto + faq ..........................#1 Apocalypto + news .......................#6 Apocalypto + information ............#8 Apocalypto + hidden frame ..........#2 Yahoo and MSN are always slower on the uptake. That's okay, we'll give them time. If you've found this page through one of these search strings - welcome! Please check back soon.

Mel Gibson's private island gets its own bowling alley

Building on yesterday's story, Mel has apparently imported a bowling alley for his island: Hollywood star and director Mel Gibson is shipping an eight lane bowling alley to his private Pacific island in northern Fiji, a shipping company official says. The gear is being loaded on a small local cargo ship at the port in Fiji's capital, Suva, for delivery to Mago Island, the shipping company official told The Associated Press. The director of The Passion of the Christ and star of Australia's Mad Max films purchased the 2,190 hectare Mago Island - the largest privately owned island in the Fiji archipelago - from Japan's Tokyu Corp for about $US15 million (over $A20 million) in late 2004. Read the rest. [...and yes we are as eager as you are for some real Apocalypto news.]

Mel Gibson's private island in Fiji

The Fiji Times has an article on several privately-held islands. One of these is currently owned and often visited by Mel Gibson and his family - Mago island: Hollywood actor Mel Gibson bought the island in December 2004 for F$24.5million [US$15million] after visiting it in the middle of December 2004. Mr Gibson's 5500-acre getaway, surrounded by powder white beaches and turquoise lagoons, has free flowing spring water and a fully functioning farm. Mr Morrison said there was also a complete village, where the estate's employees lived, along with an owner's residence, manager's residence, 12 houses for the employees, a 2-room schoolhouse, loading pier, butcher's shop, general store, laundry generator, several vehicles including a bulldozer and a boat. "Its previous owners have even thrown in 400 cattle, 16 horses, 300 goats and a menagerie of other animals. It also comes with an additional three small islands which surround the larger one." Read the rest.

Old Variety Buzz, deserves mentioning...

Variety's article from last year entitled, "Mel tongue-ties studios." Some quotes: Already, there is talk that Disney will program "Apocalypto" against the Warner Bros. film "Lady in the Water," which just happens to be the first M. Night Shyamalan-directed film Disney hasn't financed since the filmmaker's breakthrough, "The Sixth Sense." For his part, Cook said he was confident "Apocalypto" fits the summer bill. "We couldn't be more excited about working again with Mel and his team," said Cook. "This is one of the most original and unique scripts we've had the opportunity to read recently, and we plan for this to be an anchor of our summer schedule." Read the rest.

Give me the Nuts & Bolts about Apocalypto!

(this will be continually updated as more information becomes available) Apocalypto... ... is being produced by Icon Productions (owned by Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey) ... is being distributed by Icon Productions and Disney Pictures ... is directed by Mel Gibson ... is written by Mel Gibson and Farhad Safinia ... has award-winning composer James Horner composing the orchestral score. ... is being filmed in the Veracruz region of Mexico. ... is being distributed by Icon Productions and Disney Pictures ... is directed by Mel Gibson ... is written by Mel Gibson and Farhad Safinia ... has award-winning composer James Horner composing the orchestral score. ... is being filmed in the Mayan-derived language of Yucateco. ... has been revealed to star Mauricio Amuy, Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujillo, and Mayra Serbulo. [see full cast list] ... has a budget of between under (but probably close to) $50 million U.S. ... has a cast of mostly previously-unknown locals, except for those stars mentioned above. ... has the tagline: "When the end comes, not everyone is ready to go." ... was originally titled "The Mayas." ... is projected to be done filming sometime between mid-February to late April. ... will have a United States release date of December 8th, 2006. Questions, etc. (within reason) may be emailed to "apocalyptowatch [at] gmail.com" Thanks to the Internet Movie Database, Wikipedia, Mel's MEGAFANS (*warning* contains spoilers), and Tuxtlas Production Notebook (*warning* contains spoilers) for many of the facts. Note: we cannot guarantee or be held responsible for the accuracy of these facts.

Brisbane Courier Mail on Mel Gibson turning 50

Brisbane Courier Mail has an article today on Mel Gibson turning 50 earlier this year. It talks about his financial success with the Passion of the Christ, relates his rags-to-riches story and ends by mentioning his current work on Apocalypto: When Mel Gibson was 20 he was petrol-pinching poor, but at 50 he's the world's richest actor, reports Alan Veitch. At 50 every man has the face he deserves," wrote George Orwell, and if the eminent British author was correct then still strikingly handsome American-born Australian actor Mel Gibson, who hit the half century on January 3, deserves to be well satisfied with his mirror reflection. At 50 Gibson should be even happier with his financial situation, because, according to Forbes magazine, he's well on the way to reaching billionaire status – at least in Australian dollars – as a result of his Icon production company's daring gamble two years ago to finance the controversial religious movie, The Passion of the Christ. Though the entire dialogue was in Aramaic and Latin and sub-titled all through, and upset Jews around the world, Passion surprisingly turned out to be the biggest independent film box office success in Hollywood history. Eighteen months ago Forbes dubbed Gibson "the most powerful celebrity in the world" on the basis of his personal earnings from Passion of about $280 million for the previous 12 months. Since then he has made another $250 million with Passion video and DVD sales, and when all that is added to his pre-Passion fortune, estimated at another $200 million, and with more blockbuster film projects on the way it seems only a matter of time before Gibson can call himself an Australian billionaire. Read the rest.

What language is Apocalypto filmed in?

Mel Gibson has revealed that Apocalypto will be filmed in the "Mayan tongue of Yucateco." News of this decision was first leaked shortly after production chiefs were handed a script of Apocalypto whose first page read, "The dialogue you are about to read will not be spoken in English." What is Yucateco? Benjamin Zimmer explains: Yucateco, or maya yucateco, is the Spanish term for Yucatec, or Yucatec Maya, a language spoken by about a million people in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula (with some additional speakers in Belize and northern Guatemala). It's the most obvious candidate for a Mayan-language historical drama set in pre-Conquest Mexico, since modern Yucatec is still widely spoken and is a direct descendant of Classic Maya. Read Wikipedia's stub on Yucatec. Read "A Brief Introduction to Yucatec Maya". Learn how to say some basic phrases in Yucatec Maya. Why Yucateco? Mel Gibson has filmed movies in their original historical language before (most notably in Aramaic, Latin and Hebrew for The Passion of the Christ). While many news outlets described this choice as foolish, The Passion turned out to be a worldwide success anyway. Presumably Mel Gibson has chosen to film Apocalypto in the original language for similar reasons of historic authenticity. Further, in Mel's own words: "It sounds beautiful, this language, and so my hope is that [the film] makes the language cool again and makes them [the native youth] proud to speak it." As a Mayan might say, Taak tu lakin! (Until later!)

Apocalypto POTD - February 1st

Mel Gibson on the set of Apocalypto (9/30/05). Source article (Spanish). Source article (rough English translation). Note: article has some outdated facts/errors