Gibson as Maverick?

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Mel Gibson has gotten too old (51) and too weathered-looking to play a sexy smoothie in a Maverick sequel, as he's indicated he'd like to do. He's gotten chunky-framed and his hair has been thinning like crazy. Plus he's regarded as too much of a nutter to play light and frothy -- he can't go home again after the drunken Malibu rant. Gibson was always great at playing eccentric nutjobs along the lines of Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon -- that was always his home turf because he's always been in touch with that side of himself, and he probably has no choice but to stick with that now. I remember describing Richard Donner's original Maverick (1994) as "a $75 million dollar Elvis Presley film."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 1, 2007 at 1:25 PM

comment #1

George Prager says ...

Forget Maverick. He can play Yoyo in Holmes and Yoyo.

Posted by George Prager at May 1, 2007 1:47 PM

comment #2

jeffmcm says ...

Agreed, bad idea. Can't Gibson just sit on his giant pile of money and try and enjoy himself?

Posted by jeffmcm at May 1, 2007 1:47 PM

comment #3

christian says ...

"a $75 million dollar Elvis Presley film."

pretty fucking dead on.

and gibson just wants us to love him again.

Posted by christian at May 1, 2007 1:48 PM

comment #4

Geoff says ...

Sounds lame. As for the hair though...it's a very fixable and typical situation amongst actors. Call it "movie magic" if you will.

Posted by Geoff at May 1, 2007 1:49 PM

comment #5

vansmith says ...

how about Gibson as presley if he had lived, picture gibson with the pompadour...

Posted by vansmith at May 1, 2007 1:51 PM

comment #6

Noah says ...

Because the original Maverick didn't say all they needed to say...

Posted by Noah at May 1, 2007 1:56 PM

comment #7

dre says ...

I can actually see him getting away with this. It's not like he has to beat people up. All he did in the first movie was get his ass kicked and play cards. though there was that one wagon chase.

Posted by dre at May 1, 2007 2:03 PM

comment #8

Arran says ...

I actually enjoyed Maverick, even though it was pretty much a $75m Elvis film...but is anyone exactly baying for a follow-up? He may as well make a Tequila Sunrise sequel for all anyone would care.

Posted by Arran at May 1, 2007 2:03 PM

comment #9

Rob says ...

How about a Bird on a Wire sequel. Who wants to exhume Goldie Hawn?

Posted by Rob at May 1, 2007 2:21 PM

comment #10

le corbeau says ...

I enjoyed Maverick too, but I try not to see sequels to movies which evaporated from my brain in the parking lot.

Now, Mel Gibson in The Rockford Files...

Posted by le corbeau at May 1, 2007 2:25 PM

comment #11

Terry McCarty says ...

In terms of a MAVERICK sequel, if such a project were to be greenlighted, it would likely include a younger actor as part of the Maverick family. This would presumbably make the project more palatable to younger audiences who would pass on it if Mel were the sole star.

Perhaps Clive Owen could be cast as Beau Maverick, played on the old series by Roger Moore.

Posted by Terry McCarty at May 1, 2007 2:33 PM

comment #12

le corbeau says ...

"Perhaps Clive Owen could be cast as Beau Maverick, played on the old series by Roger Moore."

I think Clive Owen has already displayed admirable sense in avoiding roles previously belonging to Roger Moore.

Posted by le corbeau at May 1, 2007 2:48 PM

comment #13

Josh Massey says ...

I'm still waiting for the sequel to Hamlet.

Posted by Josh Massey at May 1, 2007 3:15 PM

comment #14

Ian Sinclair says ...

You are forgetting that 95% of the USA and the rest of the world doesn't gives a rats ass that Mel Gibson got drunk and railed on Jews. Anti-semitism is deplorable but widespread. Mel Gibson is a huge movie star. His last picture as a starring actor actor made a bundle. So will his next.

Posted by Ian Sinclair at May 1, 2007 5:31 PM

comment #15

D.Z. says ...

I think it'll do badly, because like Bruce and Sly, he looks too grizzled to sell to younger audiences.

Posted by D.Z. at May 1, 2007 7:43 PM

comment #16

Gnome de Guerre says ...

Liked Maverick, but if Mel can pull off that same sense of "lads just having fun". Too much baggage, but who knows. Stick to Mad Max 4 sez I.

Posted by Gnome de Guerre at May 2, 2007 3:42 AM

comment #17

Maritza says ...

After seeing Hot Fuzz and enjoying Timothy Dalton's performance -- not to mention how dashing he still is at 60-something -- a friend and I were talking about roles for actors aged 50+. What is Hollywood supposed to do with these guys? How come they don't have any good roles for silver foxes any more?

I actually don't want to see guys like Mel Gibson remain on screen continually until they drop dead. They need to go away for a while and then come back acting their age.

Posted by Maritza at May 2, 2007 5:02 AM

comment #18

christian says ...

too bad that gibson is responsible all the wars.
he should make a film where he plays a gay jewish transvestite cop and call it SUGAR TITS...

Posted by christian at May 2, 2007 9:51 AM

comment #19

The Movie Man says ...

I liked MAVERICK, it was rambling nonsense, but it was fun rambling nonsense with a nice sense of play and appealing work by Gibson, Garner, Foster, Coburn, Molina, etc.

Oh, right I'm not supposed to support Gibson movies because he's the ONE asshole in Hollywood.

All that said, the guy is reaching with talks of a MAVERICK sequel, just ask Sharon Stone how exuming a decade old hit helped her career. Of course, that movie did suck.

Posted by The Movie Man at May 2, 2007 2:23 PM

comment #20

le corbeau says ...

"I actually don't want to see guys like Mel Gibson remain on screen continually until they drop dead. They need to go away for a while and then come back acting their age."

And maybe thinking more seriously about who they are, and what they might accomplish in life, other than just cranking out product all the time. Remember that the movie Clint Eastwood made right before the renaissance that began with The Unforgiven was The Rookie.

Posted by le corbeau at May 2, 2007 3:01 PM

comment #21