Mel Gibson returns to direct ‘Flight Risk’

The movie trailer was in heavy circulation at NFL playoff broadcasts and elsewhere earlier this month. A pilot played by Mark Wahlberg flies a federal agent and government witness in a small plane. But the pilot, apparently, was actually an assassin sent to kill the witness. Chaos has arrived.

“You’re not looking at it,” the trailer promises in all caps. “You live it.”

None of the actors, including Wahlberg, are known by name – the actor was played by Michelle Dockery (“Downton Abbey”), the witness of Topher Grace (“This show ’70s”) – and the actor is simply referred to as “the director of ‘Braveheart’, ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ and ‘Apocalypto’.

Movie posters are similar: Wahlberg’s is the only name in the main genre; the highest promise, “From an award-winning director” of all three films; and just at the bottom, in smaller type, the director’s name: Mel Gibson.

Gibson – who won the Oscar for directing for “Braveheart” and was nominated for “Hacksaw Ridge” – is clearly one of the most famous actors in Hollywood. He’s also the same person who made antisemitic statements in 2006 to a police officer who pulled him over for speeding (Gibson pleaded no contest to drunken driving and apologized for the statements), heard on A leaked 2010 tape of him screaming racist abuse. Her boyfriend at the time and this past fall said Kamala Harris has a “fencing IQ.”

Gibson’s return to the director’s chair for the first time since “Hacksaw Ridge” nearly a decade ago coincided with President Trump’s return to the White House — which was called last week Gibson and the two other most conservative celebrities in the world, actor Sylvester Stallone. and Jon Voight, as a “special ambassador” to Hollywood. In that sense, “Risk of Flight” provides an analysis of how the culture industry navigates a political reality where conservatism feels culturally superior, but the results The most effective mass has something for everyone.

By all accounts, “Risk in Flight” is a non-political thriller, moving well enough to watch with popcorn. (The review is not available yet.)

“This movie looks like she and Mark are having fun,” said Russell Schwartz, a former theater salesman and Chapman University professor, adding that it’s “not a diatribe, but a good old-fashioned B+ or A. – action movie.”

Gibson did limited press promoting the film. He appeared on the Fox News show “The Ingraham Angle” and the conservative cable network NewsNation (reporting that his home in Malibu, Calif., burned in a recent fire).

A spokesperson for Gibson referred an inquiry to Lionsgate, which is distributing the film. Lionsgate declined to comment.

Gibson also appeared this month on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the wildly popular podcast whose host became a fixture in last year’s presidential campaign after Trump appeared as a guest on the show and Rogan endorsed Trump in the days leading up to the election. Rogan attended the inauguration ceremony at the Capitol.

On the show, Gibson discussed his conservative Catholic faith (he rejects the Second Vatican Council) and his views on evolution. (“The Darwin thing? I don’t really do that.”) She says she has three friends who have been free of Stage 4 cancer after receiving holistic treatments.

Gibson also promoted “Perils of Flight” in favorable terms. “It’s a hoot,” Gibson said, adding, “I just want to have a nice little car.”

Gibson’s strategic press appearances could sell to audiences who find his politics appealing without alienating others, said Casey Kelly, a professor of rhetoric and public culture at the University of Nebraska. “It makes the content seem taboo, counter-cultural, naughty,” he says, “which is very attractive to young men.

“Being anti-wake is a brand more than content,” Kelly added. “Mel Gibson’s movies are not against the revival.” It’s a way to gain fame for yourself.

Fred Cook, a public relations expert who is a professor at the University of Southern California, said that it is common for movies to sell different things to different audiences. Trailers for “Joker: Folie à Deux,” he said, often hinted at how much of a sequel to last year’s “The Joker” was a musical.

“They just didn’t play that side of the movie, which was really important, because they didn’t think it would appeal to people,” Cook said.

Gibson’s next planned movie may have a harder time marketing well. He said he plans to begin production soon on the sequel to 2004’s “The Passion of the Christ,” by some measures the most successful independent film of all time. which has been criticized for its anti-Semitic tropes.

The follow-up, in which Gibson says Jim Caviezel will reprise his role as Jesus, is about the Resurrection and more, Gibson told Rogan – starting with “the fall of the angels to the death of the last apostle.”

“You have other goals,” Gibson added, contrasting “Flight Risk” with this new project. “The next thing I’m going to do is deeper for me – it’s going to take me further.”