He’s been more or less blacklisted in Hollywood for a long time, but does anyone really remember what Mel Gibson did that turned everyone against him? Warner Bros. apparently doesn’t, because The Hollywood Reporter says that the studio is “courting” Gibson to direct a sequel to David Ayer’s Suicide Squad. These talks are still early and no real offer has been made, but Gibson is apparently considering it and is “familiarizing himself” with the material. Getting this gig could be a big comeback for Gibson, since this is not only a huge studio film, but a huge studio sequel based on a relatively popular and successful superhero property. They don’t usually hand those things off to just anybody these days.
This comes after Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge grabbed six Oscar nominations, after a story came out that he was in negotiations to join a Daddy’s Home sequel, and after he signed on to star in a police brutality movie with Vince Vaughn. In other words, it seems like Warner Bros. isn’t the only studio that forgot about the time he said that “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” Meanwhile, female directors who never went on drunken, anti-Semitic tirades still have a hard time finding work.
UPDATE: Variety is now reporting that a handful of other directors are also in the running, specifically Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer, Safe House’s Daniel Espinosa, and Warm Bodies’ Jonathan Levine. Gibson is still the biggest name here, though.