Mel Gibson is in talks to direct a WW2 drama in Australia, his first film as a director since Apocalypto in 2006.
Due to start shooting in September, Hacksaw Ridge will chronicle the battle for Okinawa's Maeda Escarpment and the heroic actions of medic Private First Class Desmond Doss.
A Seventh Day Adventist, Doss was the first conscientious objector in US history to win the Congressional Medal of Honour.
According to Screen Daily, Variety and other media, The Amazing Spider-Man’s Andrew Garfield is in talks to play Doss. His story was featured in Terry Benedict’s 2004 TV documentary The Conscientious Objector.
The producers are Pandemonium Films’ Bill Mechanic, Lightstream Pictures’ Paul Currie (who is currently shooting romantic thriller 2.22 in Sydney) and Icon’s Bruce Davey, Gibson’s business partner. ScreenCorp’s James M Vernon is the executive producer.
Robert Schenkkan penned the original drafts and Randall Wallace (who wrote Gibson's Braveheart and We Were Soldiers) is writing the screenplay. Stuart Ford’s IM Global is pitching the project to international buyers at Berlin’s European Film Market.
After producing fantasy/adventure The Moon and the Sun, which was shot in Melbourne and France last year, Mechanic told IF he was keen to shoot Hacksaw Ridge in Australia, in either Victoria or Queensland.