Trivia for
Babylon A.D. (2008) More at IMDbPro »

• The film had to be bailed out by the studio's insurance company, after running over-budget and falling significantly behind schedule.
  
  
• The round Sigil Tattoo seen on Vin Diesel's neck is known as "The Gate of the Necronomicon" and is protective, symbolizing Man, the Creator and The Watchers.
  
  
• When the film was released, director Mathieu Kassovitz called it a "bad episode of "24" (2001)." In an interview with amctv.com, Kassovitz said that Twentieth Century Fox interfered throughout production, and he never had a chance to shoot a scene the way it was scripted, or the way he wanted it to be.
  
  
• The studio apparently cut 70 minutes of Mathieu Kassovitz's original version, against his wishes, to get to a running time of 93 minutes.
  
  
• The movie got almost no promotion, due to a feud between Mathieu Kassovitz and Fox studios over the final version.
  
  
• Was not screened for US critics.
  
  
• The film is based on the novel "Babylon Babies" by Maurice G. Dantec.
  
  
• Gérard Depardieu is dubbed.
  
  
• In March 2007, the film crew in the Czech Republic took a two-week hiatus to deal with uncooperative weather, such as the lack of snow, and problems with set construction.
  
  
• Vin Diesel dropped out of the lead role of Hitman (2007/I) to star in this movie.
  
  
• French actor Vincent Cassel was initially sought to be cast in the lead role.
  
  
• Mathieu Kassovitz developed the film adaptation for five years.
  
  
• The Cyrillic tattoo on Vin Diesel's left hand reads "SLON" ("Elephant") which stands for "Solovetsky Lager' Osobogo Naznacheniya" (Solovki Special Purpose Camp), one of the earliest GULAG's encampments (1923-1933). Later, this tattoo was popular among criminals, with a new interpretation: "Smert' Legavym Ot Nozha!" (Death for Cops From a Knife!).
  
  

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