Writer, producer, and director Julie Taymor used anachronistic props and clothes throughout this movie (chariots, tanks, swords, and machine guns) because she wanted to symbolically depict 2,000 years of warfare and violence.
Writer, producer, and director Julie Taymor fought against an NC-17 rating for this movie, but finally agreed to make cuts in the Roman orgy scene, in order to obtain an R-rating. None of the gruesome violence, however, was considered inconsistent with an R-rating. She said in an interview, that she was "one buttock away from an NC-17," even there was no graphic sex, just plenty of naked bodies.
Writer, producer, and director Julie Taymor and Sir Anthony Hopkins disagreed about Titus' mental state throughout production, with Taymor feeling that Titus is feigning a kind of madness, but is in fact mad himself, but with Hopkins feeling that Titus is feigning madness, and is in fact totally sane. They never resolved their differences and on their respective commentaries on the DVD, they mentioned their differing interpretations.
Writer, producer, and director Julie Taymor conceived of Saturninus (Alan Cumming) as being from the 1930s, and rooted in Fascism, while Bassianus (James Frain) came from the 1950s, and was concerned with conservatism. This is reflected in the cars in which they travel, and the clothes their supporters wear during the political speeches.
In a television profile on British television in 2002, Sir Anthony Hopkins confirmed that he had found the experience of working on this movie so stressful, that he decided at the time to retire from movie acting. In the same interview, Hopkins points out that in the dinner scene towards the end, he mimicked the great British "Knight" actors of Shakespeare: Sir John Gielgud, Sir Ralph Richardson, and Sir Laurence Olivier.
Julie Taymor: [Elliot Goldenthal score]: Elliot Goldenthal composed the score, as he has for almost every Julie Taymor film.