FILM · 2008 · UK
Babylon A.D.
24 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (24)
- #001
Mathieu Kassovitz later released a documentary titled Fucking Kassovitz (2011) covering the production.
- #002
Vin Diesel was cast by 20. Century Fox despite Mathieu Kassovitz's objections.
- #003
20. Century Fox severely cut the film's total running time to 93 minutes. Although Mathieu Kassovitz claimed the cuts approached 15 minutes, reports stated that 70 minutes were removed.
- #004
Because the film went over budget and fell significantly behind schedule, the studio's insurance company had to step in to rescue it.
- #005
Due to the dispute between Mathieu Kassovitz and 20. Century Fox over the final version, the film received almost no promotion.
- #006
The film is set in the year 2058.
- #007
Vin Diesel dropped out of the lead role in Hitman (2007) to take part in this film.
- #008
It was not screened for American critics.
- #009
The Cyrillic tattoo on Vin Diesel's left hand reads "SLON" ("Elephant"), standing for "Solovetsky Lager' Osobogo Naznacheniya" (Solovki Special Purpose Camp), one of the oldest GULAG camps (1923-1933). The tattoo later became popular among criminals with a new interpretation: "Smert' Legavym Ot Nozha!" (Death to Cops from the Knife!).
- #010
In March 2007, the film crew in the Czech Republic took a two-week break due to uncooperative weather conditions such as a lack of snow and problems with set construction.
- #011
The film features the future One World Trade Center and Two World Trade Center, which had not yet been built when the film was shot. The Two WTC in the film is the 2007 specification, which was later changed to the 2015 specification.
- #012
The lack of snow meant that a skiing scene to be shot in Eastern Europe had to be moved to Sweden.
- #013
The film is adapted from Maurice G. Dantec's novel "Babylon Babies".
- #014
The plane on which Toorop, Sister Rebeka and Aurora fly to New York is a Boeing-787 "Dreamliner". This is the aircraft's first appearance in a film. However, the interior shot shows them sitting in seats that most likely belong to the cabin equipment of a Boeing-737.
- #015
French actor Vincent Cassel was initially wanted for the lead role.
- #016
Mathieu Kassovitz developed the film adaptation for five years.
- #017
Oakley products were used throughout the film. Vin Diesel wears the Oakley Icon Backpack 2.0 and Factory Pilot gloves, and in the snowmobile chase all the actors wear various Snow Frame goggles. Although they did not succeed in the final cut, Diesel's DVD case features a still photo of him wearing Oakley O-ROKR mp3 glasses, slightly altered after being treated by the doctor and brought back to life.
- #018
This is the first film production in which Charlotte Rampling plays the leader of a religious organization determined to create a messianic figure they can control in order to manipulate the human population. The second production is Denis Villeneuve's multi-part Dune films, in which she plays the Bene Gesserit's Reverend Mother.
- #019
Mathieu Kassovitz briefly considered the idea of featuring Jamel Debbouze as a villain with a robotic arm.
- #020
Lambert Wilson was cast late in the production.
- #021
The "StudioCanal" cut of the film does not include the thrilling chase scene between the Noelite soldiers and Toorop, or the final scene in which Toorop is with Aurora's children.
- #022
The French documentary Fucking Kassovitz (2011), which deals with the troubled creation of the film, premiered in 2011.
- #023
It is regarded as a loose remake or updated version of Cyborg (1989).
- #024
Babylon A.D. (2008) is a science fiction action film directed by Mathieu Kassovitz and written by Kassovitz and Éric Besnard, adapted from the 1999 novel "Babylon Babies." It stars Vin Diesel as a mercenary tasked with smuggling a super-intelligent young woman named Aurora to America. The cast also includes Michelle Yeoh, Mélanie Thierry, Lambert Wilson and Mark Strong. It was an international co-production between France, the United Kingdom and the United States.
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