* AcclaimedFlop: The film won ''seven'' Goya Awards, becoming the second most awarded film in their categories, but out of a budget of $70 million,[[note]]breaking the record set three years earlier by ''Film/{{Alatriste|2006}}'' for the most expensive Spanish-language film ever made in Spain[[/note]] it only made $39,041,505 in box office. A lacking distribution and promotion due to its controversial nature had part of the fault.
* BannedInChina: The movie hasn't yet shown up in Italy thanks to potentially stoking controversy from Catholics. In the United States, it's largely under-promoted thanks to concerns about religious portrayals. Ironically, the film was approved by the Vatican of all entities, who saw it as an attack on religious fanaticism in general as opposed to it being an attack on one specific religious group.
* FakeNationality: The film's cast is predominantly comprised of British actors playing Greek, Egyptian and Roman characters aside from the Guatemalan-American Creator/OscarIsaac, the Arab-Israeli Ashraf Barhom and the Iranian Homayoun Ershadi.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Rachel Weisz wanted to explore Hypatia's inner sexuality beyond her rejection of Orestes and her sole scene wondering about love experiences, but Amenábar vetoed it, believing it would too out-of-character for the historical Hypatia (who was married yet apparently kept celibate all her life).
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