Mel Gibson steps out of the Darkness... and into the Darkness.

By Matt Holmes / April 29, 2008

Nice to have you back Mel. Even though I have been enjoying your directorial exploits over the past couple of years, I always looked forward to the acting side of your career. Variety say Gibson after turning down a ton of projects in the last five years (including Lethal Weapon 5) has committed to star in Edge of Darkness an adaptation of a six-hour long 1985 BBC mini-series which was directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) - who is also on board for this adaptation.

The script comes from William Monahan (The Departed) and it will be Gibson's first leading role since Signs in 2002 and his first on screen part since The Signing Detective in 03...

Gibson will play a straitlaced police investigator whose activist daughter is killed. He plunges into the case and uncovers systemic corruption that led to his daughter's death. Gibson had long been a fan of the mini and was receptive when King and Campbell approached him several months ago.

Production will begin in August - and it will be produced by Graham King's GK Films banner (he went after Monahan personally) and by the BBC. The original show was a bit before my time. Research tells me it starred Bob Peck and former Bond villain John Doe Baker and that it's extremely well respected. A 9.1 IMDB rating (admittedly after less than a 1,000 votes), the series is thought to be the very best of British original drama and was dealing with the atmosphere of the Thatcher administration and the secrecy surrounding the nuclear industry in the U.K. Can't believe I've never heard of it. Great to see Gibson back - Monahan is a great screenwriter - the original material looks very rich (though has potential to be turned into cliche crap) and anything that delays Campbell or takes him away from The Birds remake is very welcomed by me. Anything that causes that film problems makes me happy.