11. He Was Supposed To Play Hamlet In Mel Gibson's Stage Adaptation
If there's a combination of two phrases that can make Hollywood tense up in awkward anticipation, it's "Mel Gibson" and "adaptation". His retelling of the crucifixion story of Jesus was so cringe-inducing that Icon Films' best outing since has been the Postman Pat movie. Before all that though Gibson had his eye away from the big screen, and instead hoped to revive a stage version of Hamlet, the very film he'd originally formed the company to make. His first, and apparently only, choice for the title role was Downey, Jr. and he attached himself to the project from day 1. However after another series of arrests RDJ was dropped from the part and, combined with a few other logistical issues, the project was scrapped entirely as a result. Gibson has hinted that he'd like to revive it at some point but, even if he did, his original Hamlet is somewhat out of his price range now.
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