The movie Mel Gibson wishes he could delete from history: “A bitter disappointment to me”
It’s not difficult to note that Mel Gibson has had a few regrets during his career. The actor was one of the most powerful men in Hollywood for a time before a run of dishonourable moments left his reputation tattered. Gibson’s career is a dual narrative.
He delivered a run of performances in Mad Max, Lethal Weapon and Braveheart that made him a star before moving behind the camera to become one of the greats. However, a drunk driving incident in 2006, which came equipped with antisemitic and misogynistic ramblings, cast him in the role of Hollywood villain. Ever since, Gibson has tried to have the mainstream accept him once again.
The release of his 2016 movie, Hacksaw Ridge, showcased a career he could have enjoyed. Lauded by critics and nominated for awards, it suggested that maybe the tide of opinion had turned on Gibson. He went on to his next project with newfound optimism.
Back in 2016, Academy Award-winner Mel Gibson travelled to Dublin to film Farhad Safinia’s biographical drama The Professor and The Madman. Based on Simon Winchester’s 1998 book The Surgeon of Crowthorne, the film tells the story of Professor James Murray, who, while working on the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, receives over 10,000 entries from a unique and surprising source – a patient at the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum in Berkshire.
French director Luc Besson handed Gibson the project. The actor originally intended to direct the script but ended up hiring Apocolypto screenwriter Farhad Safinia instead. Gibson took on the role of James Murray, and Sean Penn entered talks to play William Chester Minor. Filming commenced in September 2016, but a year later, as the project was nearing completion, things were starting to unravel.
In July 2017, Gibson’s Icon production company sued Voltage, with the actor claiming that the finance and distribution company had refused to allow Safinia to complete the film. This disagreement was in itself the result of a previous dispute regarding the film’s shooting location, with Voltage refusing to schedule five days of critical photography in Oxford, England, instead of Dublin’s Trinity College. Voltage claimed that the movie was already over budget and blocked the motion. Voltage later claimed that Gibson and Safania had walked off the movie when the Oxford locations were not permitted.
Gibson subsequently clarified that “neither Farhad Safinia nor I ever walked off of the set or caused the film to ever go over budget.” He went on to add that “as partners in Icon Productions, Bruce Davey and I are huge fans of Simon Winchester’s best-selling book on which the script was based and worked for 20 years to bring this amazing story to the screen.”
“This was a labour of love for the entire creative team,” Gibson continued, “and it is unfortunate for all concerned that this film was never finished as written. I regret that this film will never be seen as it was meant to be. Making it was never about money for Icon; it was about bringing this amazing story to the big screen. Sadly that has not happened in the way it could have. The Voltage version of this film is a bitter disappointment to me.”
The Professor and the Madman received a limited theatrical release in 2019. Plagued by poor reviews, one wonders if Gibson was right to disavow this undeniably clunky piece of filmmaking. Check out the trailer below.
