Events in Catemaco & Los Tuxtlas
Apocalypto
Apocalypto
A notebook of chitchat relating to Mel Gibson´s endeavor
to produce a film in the Catemaco, Veracruz area.
to produce a film in the Catemaco, Veracruz area.
Oh Christ!, what am I doing in Catemaco?
Mel Gibson´s photo taken on an interview
with "Notiver in Veracruz".
Mel Gibson´s photo taken on an interview
with "Notiver in Veracruz".
Old sweatshop maquiladora & tobacco warehouse
rented in Sihuapan to warehouse the props for
Apocalypto.
rented in Sihuapan to warehouse the props for
Apocalypto.
First movie trailer is now on the internet. Apparently Mel said to hell
with the weather, and filmed his dark scenes first.
The lead actress is a Kate de Castillo lookalike, (a popular Mexican
actress), probably a clone (Iazua Larios from Spain?).
Mauricio Amuy, (Kate de Castillos´ husband) has the lead role.
Rudy Youngblood portrays the second leading man Jaguar Paw. He
may be a native American dancer.
Full trailers available here:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/touchstone/apocalypto/
I think Mel Gibson weaseled on the description of his projected film.
The Mayas apocalyptic view and pronounced blood lust obviously
influenced devout and bloodthirsty catholic Mel Gibson´s choice of
title. "This film will not be as bloody as The Passion; it will be a little
more tasteful." Mel Gibson said.
The Mayas were incredibly accurate astronomers and constructed
a calendar almost on par with modern science. It features a so
called long count (baktun, 14,400 days long) which places the
beginning of the world at 3114 B.C. After the completion of 13
baktuns, the Mayas expected the world to come to a fiery end. That
date is getting painfully near, December 21st, 2012.
Offsite references:
Wikipedia - Apocalypto
MelMegafans - Apocalypto
Mayan Languages
Desconfianza para “Apocalypto”, de Gibson - Bitch Bitch Bitch!
Apparently the Catemaco area was totally spoiled by
Sean Connery's high budget filming of "Medicine Man",
1992 and the later filming of The HBO flick "The Burning Season"
1994 and the population is expecting and scheming get rich dreams.
In April 2005, Gibson visited El Mirador in Guatemala, possibly the
largest Mayan site yet discovered and donated $500,000 towards
its study project.
April 2005 - Gibson tours Veracruz
August 2005 - Gibson visits Catemaco
October
Advance crew starts popping up in Catemaco,
Setting up a warehouse in Sihuapan near Catemaco, paying
180 pesos daily. People crying because they expected 1000.
Mel walks Catemaco incognito and hotels start getting reservations
31 Oct. - Mel Gibson arrives again and goes to work-
Mel donates 1 million bucks to Hurricane relief efforts via Rotarians
- Thank you Sir!
Good luck Mel, and please mention Catemaco in your
next press conference.
November
Crews start arriving early, confirm expected 3 months stay,
crews are mostly from Mexico City, plus a tribe of American
technicians with only a handful of big spenders expected.
Hotels still have room.
Hotel Playa Azul has been converted into the Apocalypto´s
production office and a large trailer camp near Nanciyaga has been
leveled to provide onsite production support, including a commisary
for 180.
La Jungla is closed to the public. (closed for filming)
Heavy rains, wind and cold may be slowing down production
which is now allegedly 6 weeks overdue.
A small zoo is in place, including wild pigs, tapirs, anteaters, exotic
birds and a couple of ponies. (Ponies? What were those Mayas
dreaming?) (turns out those ponies were camouflaged as tapirs in
some scenes).
Gibson announces he´ll donate the stage sets consisting of several
pyramids in Oveja after he finishes, to the state of Veracruz. I
want the zoo!
Señor Gibson is probably staying at the El Cedral, a lake shore
estate between La Jungla and Coyame.
December
Robberies plague actors at Playa Azul hotel.
Set closed down 21 December, to return first week of January for
4-6 weeks in Catemaco.
January
January 2, crews return and head back to work
January 3, Happy 50th Birthday, Mel
Rumors claims the Catemaco mayor´s wife is peeved because Mel
didn´t ask her and the mayor for dinner. So is my partner, her
daughters and my maid.
Obviously Mel lacked the appetite for a political dinner, although
Mexican papers report he´s a fan of quesadillas and other Mexican
junk food while playing poker in a local bistro.
Further rumor is that Mel donated some money to the local
government, which may be the reason why the potholes on the
road to La Jungla got filled, and the rest of the roads were ignored.
February
Feb 21 - the crews start leaving for Paso de Ovejas
Early July
film crew returns for doing some final scenes at Balzapote beach
July 06
Catemaco sends its comments to Mel for his current troubles
Film Data
Film Title: Apocalypto, first title was "The Mayas".
The Greek word apocalypse is defined as a cosmic cataclysm in
which God destroys the ruling powers of evil.
It is also the name for the bible's Book of Revelation.
According to Gibson it´s Greek for an unveiling or new beginning,
"just expresses so well that I want to convey," he said.
Producer: Icon Productions, owned by Mel Gibson & Davey Bruce.
Distributor: Disney Pictures & Icon Productions.
Director: Mel Gibson
Executive Producer: Ned Dowd
Production Manager: Anna (Ana) Roth
Director of Photography: Dean Semler
Production Designer: Tom Sanders
Casting Director: Carla Hool
Budget: Low Range, presumably around $20-30 million US.
(Heavy rains probably caused heavy budget overruns)
Projected release: Summer/Fall 2006
Start of production: October, 2005
Genre: Action / Drama / Historical Epic Film
Script: written by Mel Gibson & Farhad Safina in english and
translated into Maya
Language: Yucatec, a Maya dialect.
"it sounds beautiful, this language, and so my hope is that (the film)
makes the language cool again and makes them (Maya-speaking
kids) proud to speak it." Mel Gibson
Time Frame: pre-Hispanic Maya civilization at cusp of Spanish
invasion. (the actual Native Aerican Apocalypse)
Allegedly the film will end with the sighting of Spanish ships off
shore, which will be filmed near Balzapote, on the Catemaco coast.
Storyline: "a story of love and adventure in which romance is
interlaced with revenge and suffering". "This film will not be as
bloody as The Passion; it will be a little more tasteful." Mel Gibson
Source: allegedly inspired by "Popol Vu", (sometimes called the
Maya bible) and spanish missionary descriptions of the Maya.
Cast: Cast of unknowns, mostly hired in Mexico City, plus Mayas
from the Yucatan, plus locals from Los Tuxtlas & Veracruz. As for
historic accuracy, Catemaco has umpteen tatooed extras walking
around, all taller than I am.
so far hired:
Mexican actor: Miguel Angel Galvan, as a maya priest.
Costa Rican actor/model: Mauricio Amuy, as a maya chief.
A blind old guy from the Yucatan as a story teller.
Mexican actor: Joaquín Cosío.
Some actors from Mexico City´s Centro Universitario de Teatro.
A bunch of relatively unknowns, Rudy Youngblood, Rapol Trujillo,
Gerardo Taracena, Rodolfo Palacios, Jonathan Brewer, Iazua
Larios.
A curious anecdote has several tall Canadians of Maya origin in the
cast, who speak Maya & English but not Spanish.
Crew: a guestimate of 300 people involved in the production, most
top technicians seem to be American, plus fill-ins from Mexico city,
plus a few 100 extras, when needed. The battle scenes at Paso de
Ovejas apparently use up to 700 extras.
Locations:
stage sets:
outdoor: sets in La Jungla near Catemaco and Paso de Oveja (2
pyramids & village built), near Cardel north of Veracruz city.
primary outdoor closeup: La Jungla, near Nanciyaga
on Laguna Catemaco.
secondary outdoor scenery: Around Paso de Ovejas. Eyipantla
Waterfalls, Balzapote beach on the Tuxtlas coast.
A Mexican Studio is handling production (Churubusco?)
Production schedule: projected 5 months total shoot, with the
current rain, good luck! Shooting from November to before
Christmas in Catemaco , then vacation to January 2 and project to
finish in Catemaco late February and wrap up in April 2006.
with the weather, and filmed his dark scenes first.
The lead actress is a Kate de Castillo lookalike, (a popular Mexican
actress), probably a clone (Iazua Larios from Spain?).
Mauricio Amuy, (Kate de Castillos´ husband) has the lead role.
Rudy Youngblood portrays the second leading man Jaguar Paw. He
may be a native American dancer.
Full trailers available here:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/touchstone/apocalypto/
I think Mel Gibson weaseled on the description of his projected film.
The Mayas apocalyptic view and pronounced blood lust obviously
influenced devout and bloodthirsty catholic Mel Gibson´s choice of
title. "This film will not be as bloody as The Passion; it will be a little
more tasteful." Mel Gibson said.
The Mayas were incredibly accurate astronomers and constructed
a calendar almost on par with modern science. It features a so
called long count (baktun, 14,400 days long) which places the
beginning of the world at 3114 B.C. After the completion of 13
baktuns, the Mayas expected the world to come to a fiery end. That
date is getting painfully near, December 21st, 2012.
Offsite references:
Wikipedia - Apocalypto
MelMegafans - Apocalypto
Mayan Languages
Desconfianza para “Apocalypto”, de Gibson - Bitch Bitch Bitch!
Apparently the Catemaco area was totally spoiled by
Sean Connery's high budget filming of "Medicine Man",
1992 and the later filming of The HBO flick "The Burning Season"
1994 and the population is expecting and scheming get rich dreams.
In April 2005, Gibson visited El Mirador in Guatemala, possibly the
largest Mayan site yet discovered and donated $500,000 towards
its study project.
April 2005 - Gibson tours Veracruz
August 2005 - Gibson visits Catemaco
October
Advance crew starts popping up in Catemaco,
Setting up a warehouse in Sihuapan near Catemaco, paying
180 pesos daily. People crying because they expected 1000.
Mel walks Catemaco incognito and hotels start getting reservations
31 Oct. - Mel Gibson arrives again and goes to work-
Mel donates 1 million bucks to Hurricane relief efforts via Rotarians
- Thank you Sir!
Good luck Mel, and please mention Catemaco in your
next press conference.
November
Crews start arriving early, confirm expected 3 months stay,
crews are mostly from Mexico City, plus a tribe of American
technicians with only a handful of big spenders expected.
Hotels still have room.
Hotel Playa Azul has been converted into the Apocalypto´s
production office and a large trailer camp near Nanciyaga has been
leveled to provide onsite production support, including a commisary
for 180.
La Jungla is closed to the public. (closed for filming)
Heavy rains, wind and cold may be slowing down production
which is now allegedly 6 weeks overdue.
A small zoo is in place, including wild pigs, tapirs, anteaters, exotic
birds and a couple of ponies. (Ponies? What were those Mayas
dreaming?) (turns out those ponies were camouflaged as tapirs in
some scenes).
Gibson announces he´ll donate the stage sets consisting of several
pyramids in Oveja after he finishes, to the state of Veracruz. I
want the zoo!
Señor Gibson is probably staying at the El Cedral, a lake shore
estate between La Jungla and Coyame.
December
Robberies plague actors at Playa Azul hotel.
Set closed down 21 December, to return first week of January for
4-6 weeks in Catemaco.
January
January 2, crews return and head back to work
January 3, Happy 50th Birthday, Mel
Rumors claims the Catemaco mayor´s wife is peeved because Mel
didn´t ask her and the mayor for dinner. So is my partner, her
daughters and my maid.
Obviously Mel lacked the appetite for a political dinner, although
Mexican papers report he´s a fan of quesadillas and other Mexican
junk food while playing poker in a local bistro.
Further rumor is that Mel donated some money to the local
government, which may be the reason why the potholes on the
road to La Jungla got filled, and the rest of the roads were ignored.
February
Feb 21 - the crews start leaving for Paso de Ovejas
Early July
film crew returns for doing some final scenes at Balzapote beach
July 06
Catemaco sends its comments to Mel for his current troubles
Film Data
Film Title: Apocalypto, first title was "The Mayas".
The Greek word apocalypse is defined as a cosmic cataclysm in
which God destroys the ruling powers of evil.
It is also the name for the bible's Book of Revelation.
According to Gibson it´s Greek for an unveiling or new beginning,
"just expresses so well that I want to convey," he said.
Producer: Icon Productions, owned by Mel Gibson & Davey Bruce.
Distributor: Disney Pictures & Icon Productions.
Director: Mel Gibson
Executive Producer: Ned Dowd
Production Manager: Anna (Ana) Roth
Director of Photography: Dean Semler
Production Designer: Tom Sanders
Casting Director: Carla Hool
Budget: Low Range, presumably around $20-30 million US.
(Heavy rains probably caused heavy budget overruns)
Projected release: Summer/Fall 2006
Start of production: October, 2005
Genre: Action / Drama / Historical Epic Film
Script: written by Mel Gibson & Farhad Safina in english and
translated into Maya
Language: Yucatec, a Maya dialect.
"it sounds beautiful, this language, and so my hope is that (the film)
makes the language cool again and makes them (Maya-speaking
kids) proud to speak it." Mel Gibson
Time Frame: pre-Hispanic Maya civilization at cusp of Spanish
invasion. (the actual Native Aerican Apocalypse)
Allegedly the film will end with the sighting of Spanish ships off
shore, which will be filmed near Balzapote, on the Catemaco coast.
Storyline: "a story of love and adventure in which romance is
interlaced with revenge and suffering". "This film will not be as
bloody as The Passion; it will be a little more tasteful." Mel Gibson
Source: allegedly inspired by "Popol Vu", (sometimes called the
Maya bible) and spanish missionary descriptions of the Maya.
Cast: Cast of unknowns, mostly hired in Mexico City, plus Mayas
from the Yucatan, plus locals from Los Tuxtlas & Veracruz. As for
historic accuracy, Catemaco has umpteen tatooed extras walking
around, all taller than I am.
so far hired:
Mexican actor: Miguel Angel Galvan, as a maya priest.
Costa Rican actor/model: Mauricio Amuy, as a maya chief.
A blind old guy from the Yucatan as a story teller.
Mexican actor: Joaquín Cosío.
Some actors from Mexico City´s Centro Universitario de Teatro.
A bunch of relatively unknowns, Rudy Youngblood, Rapol Trujillo,
Gerardo Taracena, Rodolfo Palacios, Jonathan Brewer, Iazua
Larios.
A curious anecdote has several tall Canadians of Maya origin in the
cast, who speak Maya & English but not Spanish.
Crew: a guestimate of 300 people involved in the production, most
top technicians seem to be American, plus fill-ins from Mexico city,
plus a few 100 extras, when needed. The battle scenes at Paso de
Ovejas apparently use up to 700 extras.
Locations:
stage sets:
outdoor: sets in La Jungla near Catemaco and Paso de Oveja (2
pyramids & village built), near Cardel north of Veracruz city.
primary outdoor closeup: La Jungla, near Nanciyaga
on Laguna Catemaco.
secondary outdoor scenery: Around Paso de Ovejas. Eyipantla
Waterfalls, Balzapote beach on the Tuxtlas coast.
A Mexican Studio is handling production (Churubusco?)
Production schedule: projected 5 months total shoot, with the
current rain, good luck! Shooting from November to before
Christmas in Catemaco , then vacation to January 2 and project to
finish in Catemaco late February and wrap up in April 2006.
Crew busily building "studio city" near La Jungla
entrance on Catemaco/ Coyame road.
entrance on Catemaco/ Coyame road.
co - stars
La Jungla shore
No beard for the first visit with Veracruz´s governor
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Catemaco grows on you
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