Hey folks, Harry here... this is all rumor territory below - as not much of anything is known about Gibson's APOCALYPTO at this stage... but there is a degree of truth in the following. Gibson has mentioned the Machabees in interviews in the past - and as JustAGuy makes a convincing argument that this is what the film may be... well, I'm inclined to entertain the idea and pass it along till we get more solid material to bank on. Here ya go...

Through the grapevine I hear that Gibson's film "Apocalypto" film is the same project that he mentioned on several talkshows awhile back..in that...he said...he wanted to do a film about the rebellion of the Machabees. The film will likely center around the hero Judas Machabeus (William Wallace type character) and his revolt (considered both patriotic and religious)...leading the Jews against the King of Syria. It was basically hardcore guerilla warfare...so it should be interesting. "Apocalypto" is a play on words...first...Machabees comes from what's considered the "Apocrypha" in the Bible....and also that some of the Machabees was translated from the Greek...the revolt was considered the ushering in of a new era...or "unveiling of a new era" in history...so Gibson used this term to describe the film...hence "Apocalypto."

take it for what it's worth...

I'm justaguy

Harry here again - well Variety has a bit more on this project today. All of the above has been debunked. Seems everybody's assertion that this project would be Greek or Middle Eastern is... off base... by a few thousand miles. Looks like Mel is making a MAYAN epic, shot in the original Mayan language and taking place within that culture. Frankly... my excitement level for this film just sky-rocketed. As a boy my parents took me to Palenque, Tikal, Tulum and dozens of other sites around the Yucatan. Tikal and Palenque were just astonishing to be in. According to Mayan Prophecy global armageddon, the end of the world, apocalypto (term used by theologens to discuss end times according to various religions) was worked out according to their complex astronomy. It takes place 11 days after BNAT 14 in 2012. Or was it in the Fiftieth Century? You can read about it here or here or here. Now - the interesting part is that according to Mayan lore - this is all supposed to take place in our future - but apparently this movie takes place in Mayan times... The real question then comes - is this about that bit of Mayan mythology - or... the death of Mayan culture? Or something else entirely. I've often dreamt of seeing a great Mayan epic. Their artistry and history is amazing. How they bound their infants heads to create that alien looking sloping back of the head amazed me as a kid at the Mexico City museums. I wonder if Mel will even attempt to bring that sort of look to this. I stayed in a mayan indian village sleeping on the dirt floor with my parents outside Palenque... it is... one of my fondest memories - especially when the boar came in and licked my face awake. Mom screamed like hell. The beauty of the rainforests, perhaps we'll see the Mayan ball court game? So cool. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this one!