It's been some six years since Mel Gibson took a starring role in a movie. Since that time he's directed two movies (The Passion and Apocalypto) and experienced one considerable PR disaster after a particularly unfortunate drunken evening. Now Gibson is making a return to the cinema screen.
Gibson has signed to take the lead in Edge of Darkness, a movie version of the 1985 BBC miniseries about a policeman whose daughter is murdered in front of him. The killing is initially thought to have been a bungled attempt on the policeman's life, but he gradually discovers that might not be the case and his daughter may have kept some secrets from him.
The film has been written by William Monahan (The Departed) and will be directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale), who also directed the mini-series. Graham King (The Departed) will produce, with shooting set to start in August.
So, what do you think about Gibson returning to movies? In his heyday, he was one of cinema's most charismatic and watchable leading men and the prospect of him taking on something new is exciting, and suggests very good material if it was enough to draw him from semi-retirement. But can he weather the public backlash that greeted him following 2006's arrest?