Actor Mel Gibson has committed to star in “Edge of Darkness,”
marking his first starring role in a feature film since he headlined “We Were
Soldiers” and “Signs” in 2002, Variety reports.
Martin Campbell, who last directed “Casino Royale,” will
direct the thriller based on a 1985 BBC miniseries.
It appears 52-year-old Gibson will play a police officer
whose activist daughter is murdered. He investigates the case and manages to
uncover systemic corruption that caused his daughter's death.
Gibson directed 2004's “The Passion of the Christ” and
2006's “Apocalypto,” the latter one coming out shortly after the actor was
arrested on suspicion of drunk driving near his Malibu home. At the time, he screamed to
police officers that Jews were “responsible for all the wars in the world,” Reuters
reports. He issued two apologies for his drunken anti-Semitic outburst soon
after, and in a later interview he affirmed the accuracy of the alleged
quotations. The actor also met with Jewish leaders and underwent treatment for
alcoholism. Gibson is currently serving a three-year probation term.
Mel Gibson is an honorary Officer of the Order of Australia
and was ranked the world's most powerful celebrity in the annual list by Forbes
magazine in 2004. His direction of “Braveheart” made him the sixth
actor-turned-filmmaker to receive an Academy Award for Best Director.
In 2007, the actor visited Central
America in order to make arrangements for donations to the
indigenous population. While on a business trip to Singapore in September 2007, Gibson
donated to a local charity for children with chronic and terminal illnesses.
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