Mel Gibson pops up in Oklahoma, Texas for film screenings

Select audiences in Oklahoma and Texas were treated to the first public showings of Mel Gibson's new movie Apocalypto, due for wide release in December.

Oklahoma-based publicist Jhane Myersrevealed Sunday that the Australian director worea mask and wig to sneak into the towns of Goldsby and Lawton before screenings of his film, which has been described as an epic adventure set amid the collapse of theMayan empire.

Myers issued a statement from Gibson saying he was "deeply touched by the warm reception he has received while in Oklahoma."

Myers had initially told journalists that the screenings scheduled in Oklahoma were cancelled, a ploy to keep the media away. The actor did not attend the screenings held at the Riverwind Casino in Goldsby and Friday at Cameron University in Lawton.

But Gibson wason hand to answer questions in Austin on Saturday, when attendees of a festival of science fiction, horror and fantasy films were treated to a surprise showing of Apocalypto.

The film, which istold in the Yucatec dialect,chronicles a Mayan tribe as several warriors are taken prisoner and carted off to a city. The film focuses on the events that brought down the Mayan civilization, blaming it on the depletion of resources, greed and violence.

At the showing in front of 200 audience members at Fantastic Fest, Gibson said he found parallels between the fall of the Mayan empire and current events.

The actor/director has been under public scrutiny ever since he gave a drunken anti-Semitic outburst in late July after police stopped him for speeding in Malibu, Calif. He later apologized.

After the scandal broke, there was much speculation at the time whether Disney would distribute the movie,which Gibson co-wrote and directed. Disney has since said it would release the film on Dec. 8, as scheduled.