Mel Gibson is returning to directing, with Mark Wahlberg's help

Is there a story that highlights the heartwarming power of friendship better than the steady, largely undesired public rehabilitation of Mel Gibson? Time and time again, over the last few years—and despite it not actually being all that long ago, in the grand scheme of things, since the viewing public was treated, on a somewhat regular basis, to audio recordings of Gibson allegedly saying some pretty vile stuff to police officers/former romantic partners, etc.—his friends have stepped in to give him a lift. Whoopi Goldberg stepping up to defend him on The View. Jodie Foster casting him in the lead role of The Beaver. Mark Wahlberg working with him on Daddy’s Home 2. Mark Wahlberg working with him on Father Stu. And now, Mark Wahlberg agreeing to star in Gibson’s first stint directing a movie since 2016's Hacksaw Ridge.

This is per Deadline, which reports that Wahlberg has signed on for Flight Risk, a new thriller from Gibson, and his sixth studio feature overall. The movie is being shopped around by Lionsgate, which also produced the Oscar-winning Hacksaw, with an eye toward getting it sold as a package at Cannes. Plot details are light, but the film will apparently star Wahlberg as “a pilot transporting a dangerous criminal for trial,” a sort of “Convict Air,” if you will.

It would be inaccurate to characterize this as a comeback for Gibson, since he’s been “back,” making at least one movie for a year, since around the time the allegations got really bad back in 2011. But he’s been more active than ever in recent years, releasing six different movies—including Wahlberg’s Father Stu—in 2022 alone. It’s not actually clear why he’s been out of the director’s chair for so long, in any case, given the vague tolerance Hollywood has shown for him since Hacksaw; the film was critically lauded and a box office success.