Ali
While Mel Gibson’s name is now absent from the cast lists of several upcoming films, seems none of the dropouts are related to the actor’s recently revealed transgressions- and that includes “Chicken Run 2”, which the UK press erroneously stated the “Mad Max” actor was fired from because of the headlines he’s been making in recent weeks.
The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Gibson is no longer attached to Millennium’s “War Pigs”, in which he was to star as a a vengeance-seeking ex-special forces soldier. He is also off “Black Flies”, a Jean-Stephane Sauvaire-directed film about medics. Spokespeople for both confirm the dropouts had nothing to do with newspaper headlines surrounding the “Lethal Weapon” star.
As previously reported, Gibson also won’t be reprising his role as Rocky the rooster for the “Chicken Run” sequel but contrary to recent reports, that decision was made long before Gibson was back in the headlines.
Gibson has a full plate : He’s starring in a slew of upcoming projects, including “Last Looks” and two Joe Carnahan films – “Boss Level” and “Leo From Toledo”, as well as helming a sequel to “The Passion of Christ”.
“He’s still definitely got currency,” Phil Hunt of Brit banner Head Gear Films, one of the financiers of “Last Looks” (formerly known as “Waldo”), tells THR. “He made really bad comments. But we’ve known about them for a very long time. He still has value. Although, from a humanitarian point of view, he probably shouldn’t.”
With Warner Bros also pushing forward on a remake of “The Wild Bunch”, with Gibson attached to direct, there’s also a chance the long-gestating “Lethal Weapon 5” might still come to fruition too.
During a producers roundtable discussion with The Hollywood Reporter, Dan Lin revealed there are plans to do another “Lethal Weapon”. “We’re trying to make the last ‘Lethal Weapon’ movie,” Lin said. “And (director Richard) Donner’s coming back. The original cast is coming back.”
