Mel Gibson's Mayan gamble: Variety in 60 Seconds
Filed under: Variety in 60 Seconds
Apparently never having met a linguistic gimmick he didn't like, Mel Gibson is insisting on shooting his next film, the violent action saga Apocalypto,
in an "obscure Mayan dialect". He's also going to shoot on location in
Mexico and cast the film mostly with natives of the region. Sounds like
box office gold.- Sure, Roman Polanski won $387,000 from
the pervert sweepstakeshis libel trial - but he still has to pay $500,000 for the videolink that enabled him to testify. - In what sounds like a pitch tailor-made for Shelley Long circa 1987, Brian Grazer is producing The People's House, a comedy about a divorcing president and first lady squabbling over who gets to keep the house -- yes, the White House.
- Justin Chang is gaga over John Cusack's "maverick turn" in Must Love Dogs: "Cusack's offbeat perf is a dazzling display of nonstop verbiage, so prodigious it's tempting to suspect that the actor, who always seems to be sneaking in dialogue ahead of and behind the beat, was allowed free rein to improvise."
- Dreamworks Animation can't figure out why their projections on Shrek 2 DVD sales were so bloody off.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-25-2005 @ 12:15PM
mick du russel said...
What is Gibson trying to prove? "The Passion Of Christ" latin dialog worked because of the universal appeal of Jesus. An "obscure Mayan dialect" is not going to make people run to the theaters. Sounds kind of bizzare to me.
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7-25-2005 @ 1:28PM
viola1 said...
I think it sounds amazing. Mel Gibson didn't film "The Passion of the Christ" to make money. It just so happened to inspire moviegoers to flock to the theaters, but that wasn't his intent. I don't believe that's his goal with "Apocalypto" either, and I think it makes wonderful sense to film it in ancient Mayan. If he filmed it with actors who look the part, but when they spoke, spoke English! or perhaps British English - how wrong would that be? I don't think many would stand for it, and this being financed entirely by his Icon, I don't see why we have any right to say what he should or shouldn't do. That being said, I think him filming it in ancient Mayan demonstrates a respect for the subject, and I think that's an awesome sign of things to come for "Apocalypto". Note: Mel Gibson originally wanted to film "Braveheart" in Gaelic, but the studios didn't agree. At the time, he was dependent on studio financing, but now, he's not. He makes movies in the independent spirit and just because they're profitable shouldn't detract from that fact. "Apocalypto" is no gimmick. It's simply being filmed as Mel Gibson wants to, and that's a power that not many, if any, have in Hollywood. Think about it, there was bidding war for "Apocalypto", a wondrous thing to me! :)
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