NYT/Reuters: Disney Confirms Distribution of Gibson Film, "Apocalypto"

[DeepModem Mom]

Disney Confirms Distribution of Gibson Film
By REUTERS
Published: August 12, 2006

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Walt Disney Co. will distribute ''Apocalypto,'' a Mayan-language film by actor-director Mel Gibson, as planned on December 8, a Walt Disney Studios spokeswoman said on Friday.

That confirmation refutes recent media and Internet reports that family-oriented Disney wanted to sell distribution rights to the film to another studio to distance itself from the controversy over anti-Semitic remarks Gibson made when he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving last month in Malibu, California.

``It's not true,'' Disney spokeswoman Heidi Trotta said of the reports. Disney had no role in producing the film, a thriller with a cast of unknowns that is set in an ancient Mayan settlement and told in the Yucatec dialect with subtitles. Hollywood experts said that until his arrest, it was expected that Gibson would lead the publicity campaign for the film.

Gibson has said the story would be told through the eyes of a Mayan man, his family and village, and would touch on universal themes about ``civilizations and what undermines them.''

Shortly after Gibson's arrest, Disney-owned ABC television network opted not to produce a miniseries about the Holocaust with his Icon Productions company....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-media-disney-apocalypto.html

[Melynn]

1. I read were Disney really likes this movie

and thinks it will be a block buster at the box office. I have seen the previews of the movie and it looks too creepy for my taste. That was before Mel's big bust.