It seems even when he’s simply just going about making movies, Mel Gibson can’t stay away from controversy. A film that began as a labor of love for the two-time Oscar winner, almost didn’t see the light of day. At the star’s pleading, no less. The movie in question is the upcoming The Professor and the Madman. Yet before we get into the craziness surrounding things, we have a trailer for you to look at, released this afternoon. Take a gander.
If you aren’t able to view the above, here’s a very short, very official, plot synopsis, to help you:
“Professor James Murray begins work compiling words for the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in the mid 19th century, and receives over 10,000 entries from a patient at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, Dr. William Minor.”
Now, glancing at the above, everything seems well above board. It looks interesting, without being too showy or unique. The involvement of Gibson and Sean Penn acting alongside one another, being the biggest draw. Well, that and the people who were big fans of Simon Winchester’s novel, The Surgeon of Crowthorne.
What’s seen in the trailer, isn’t endorsed by either Gibson or the film’s original director Farhad Safinia. That’s because in 2017 Icon Productions (Gibson’s development company) sued then rights holders, Voltage Pictures, to block the film’s release, arguing Voltage reneged on its deal, by not allowing Safinia to finish the movie. This was spurned on by a disagreement between Voltage’s CEO and the filmmakers, concerning where key sequences of the film were to be shot. Safinia was denied his wishes, with the company sighting that the shoot was running overlong, as well as over budget. Gibson and Safinia then reportedly walked away from the production.
Last June LA Superior Court Judge Ruth Kwan ruled that “Plaintiff did not submit admissible evidence showing the existence of an actual controversy with Defendants.” At the start of this year, Vertial picked up US distribution, with Safinia’s name removed for the directorial and writing credits, replaced now with the pseudonym P.B. Sherman. Bringing to a close a long journey for the production, which initially began all the way back in 1999. Gibson first obtained the rights to the novel, hiring John Boorman (Deliverance) to write a script and possibly direct. When that fell through, Luc Besson (The Professional) toyed with the idea. After Gibson himself passed on the chance, he brought on Safinia, who had written Apocalypto for him, years prior.
What will really be interesting, is seeing what general audiences think of the film, in just two months. The period setting and cast are more than enough to entice a few looky-loos. In addition to Gibson and Penn, Natalie Dormer, Jennifer Ehle, Ioan Gruffudd and Steve Coogan all have sizable parts. We’ll happily add ourselves to the list of being curious as to how this one shakes out. After all, if authenticity of filming locations was the main barometer by which all movies were measured, we’d have to sweep many under the rug. You can find out for yourself, when The Professor and the Madman releases in theaters and VOD, on May 10th.
