Trivia / Apocalypto

• Amateur Cast: A lot of roles were filled by Mayan people who had never acted before.
• California Doubling: Although they did film in Mexico, they picked Veracruz (in the middle of the gulf coast) to double for Yucatan and the Caribbean, which is especially noticeable in the scenes on the beach. Amusingly enough, this means they technically shot a film about Mayans in the lands of the Aztecs.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: In North America, the film was out of print for years, with no possible way to watch it digitally without piracy. However, it is still in print in the UK, with Amazon offering downloads and region 2 discs for regular prices in spring 2020. Samuel Goldwyn Films has also announced plans to re-release the Blu-ray stateside in July 2020.
• Never Work with Children or Animals: The jaguar chasing Rudy Youngblood had to be restrained by a tether for the chase scene; Mel Gibson remarked that "you can't train a jaguar".
• No Dub for You: This movie is one of the few Hollywood films where this trope is enforced, as Mel Gibson shot the movie in Yucatec Mayan and requested it not to be dubbed on any foreign language, just like his previous film (although unlike that film, he had the advantage of using a living language this time). There's a single exception on that rule: Japan is the only country when the film received a dub, very likely to help the audience to empathize with both the characters and the extremely exotic setting.
• The Other Marty: The teaser trailer features an almost entirely different cast to the one that ends up in the final film.
• Production Posse: Farhad Safinia and Mel Gibson reunited for The Professor & the Madman, this time with Farhad directing and writing. The former had been an assistant on The Passion of the Christ.
• Troubled Production: A mild example. Heavy rains in Mexico led to a delay in filming, and that meant the release date had to be pushed back two months.
• Write What You Know: Mel Gibson was once called "almost" as an insult in school, and this inspired the moment where Jaguar Paw is called "almost" by a headhunter.

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