Leonardo DiCaprio as a Viking. Directed by Mel Gibson. With a screenplay by the Oscar-winner of The Departed. OK, I'm in.
Variety breaks word today of a new movie project involving these three men and producer Graham King. As the trade magazine rightly points out, King is the connecting link that united all three players: Gibson stars in the soon-to-be-released Edge of Darkness, produced by Graham King; DiCaprio starred in The Departed, another King-produced movie; and William Monahan, the screenwriter in question, wrote Departed as well as directed London Boulevard, another film that King produced. As they say in any business, it's who you know that gets you the deal.
The as-yet untitled Viking film will be another period piece, a genre that Gibson seems particularly adept at handling; he won Best Director and Best Picture honors for Braveheart as well as made $300 million dollars domestic for The Passion of the Christ. Apocalypto, Gibson's last directed picture, faired well at the box office. The Viking film will be a co-production between Gibson's Icon Productions and King's GK Films.
Monahan is writing the screenplay but the project won't be in a shape to move into filming for likely half-a-year, at least. That gives DiCaprio time to film another movie (the guy has around two dozen projects in stages of development throughout the studios) and time for Gibson to scout locations.
Details on what happens in the Viking adventure are being held close to the vest. If it's like Gibson's other movies set in the historical past, expect realism and plenty of gore.
"This will be an awe-inspiring story, created with some of the industry’s finest cinematic talent and I am just over the moon to be making this film with Mel, Leo and Bill," said Graham King to Variety.
All of Gibson's movies are masterpieces, he's one of the better directors of the last 15 years. Say whatever about his off-screen life, Braveheart is one of my favorite movies ever. The Passion and Apocolyto are both beautifully-shot films, and now Vikings? There has never really been a good Viking movie, sounds cool!
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Daltons chin dimple
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Posted: 14 years 18 weeks ago
"Details on what happens in the Viking adventure are being held close to the vest. If it's like Gibson's other movies set in the historical past, expect realism and plenty of gore."
No, expect historical innaccuracy and blatant anti-English agenda, possibly with some casual anti-Semitism thrown in if the can shoe horn it into the story.