Actor Mel Gibson returns to directing, with a new project, about an ancient civilization that existed 1,000 years before Jesus Christ. "Apocalypto" will be distributed in the US by Disney and Gibson's company, Icon, will handle the worldwide distribution.

Gibson, who wrote the script and will direct the movie, has already begun pre-production, casting and setting locations in Mexico. The production begins in October and the movie is set to a summer 2006 release.

The "Passion of the Christ" director will not play in the movie and rumors say he may not use a big star for this project. The title is a Greek term which means "an unveiling" or "new beginning."

In 2004, Gibson released "The Passion of the Christ", a movie in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin, which recounts a description of the last twelve hours of the life of Jesus Christ. The movie has received praise from many Christians and a number of politically conservative Jews (e.g., Michael Medved, David Horowitz, and Steven Waldman).

Despite criticism, the movie grossed $611,899,420 worldwide ($370,782,930 in the US alone) and became the 8th highest-grossing film in history. It currently is the 10th highest-grossing film and the highest-grossing Rated R film.