With Spider-Man in a bit of a void, Andrew Garfield is filling his time wisely. He’ll soon shoot Silence with Martin Scorsese and now he might team up with another Oscar-winning director, Mel Gibson. Both Gibson and Garfield are circling a World War II project called Hacksaw Ridge. It’s the true story of Desmond T Doss, a U.S. military doctor (played by Garfield, if it all works out) who refuses to kill patients badly injured in battle. As a result, he was the first “Conscientious Objector” to win the Congressional Medal of Honor. Gibson would direct. Read more about the potential Andrew Garfield Mel Gibson team up below.
Deadline broke the news of this possible team up. However, they stress that “this is not a done deal yet and Deadline understands that talks are moving forward delicately and slowly.” The script was co-written by Robert Schenkkan and Randall Wallace, the latter of whom wrote Gibson’s Oscar winner, Braveheart. This story has a similar theme to that film, about a hero who stands up to a bigger cause, so Gibson and Wallace reteaming has a certain familiarity.
Gibson hasn’t directed in years, his last film being the 2006 film Apocalypto. He was in The Expendables 3 earlier this year, and starred in the long delayed Get the Gringo before that but, for the most part, has kept a low profile recently. Of course, the reason for that is his hateful outbursts that made the gossip rounds a few years ago. Those did not help his public persona and all but relegated him to Hollywood jail. If there is a way back for Gibson – and there is, make no mistake – directing would be a smart play. Even if the deal for Hacksaw Ridge doesn’t work out, you’d imagine a nice turn behind the camera would ingratiate him to the public one more before being able to headline another movie.
Vince Vaughn will move from the HBO series True Detective to Hacksaw Ridge, the fact-based movie that Mel Gibson is directing about Desmond Doss, the first Conscientious Objector in American history to be awarded the Medal of Honor. Vaughn joins Andrew Garfield and Sam Worthington in a film that will shoot in Australia.
Garfield plays Doss and the story unfolds during WWII and follows the soldiers of the 307th Infantry, 77th Army Division, 1st Battalion, Company B as they train for battle. The story begins at a base camp in South Carolina and follows the recruits as they learn basic wartime survival skills before being deployed to Japan where they come face to face with the action at the Battle of Okinawa. Vaughn will play Sgt. Howell, a non-commissioned officer from Alabama whose job is to make sure the soldiers are ready for battle. Although he tries to instill fear in his soldiers by pushing them to their limits both physically and mentally, it is clear that he really cares about them and will do whatever it takes to keep them alive. Having a member who refuses to shoot and kill the enemy contradicts everything the sergeant has learned about war.
It was revealed last November that Gibson would return to directing on the project, which IM Global’s Stuart Ford has been selling. The film is produced by Bill Mechanic and David Permut, with Terry Benedict and Steve Longi the co-producers. Robert Schenkkan and Randall Wallace wrote the script.
The role keeps Vaughn on the drama track he has traveled lately with the second season of Nic Pizzolatto’s second season of the cop anthology series True Detective. Vaughn is repped by WME.
Hugo Weaving has joined the cast of World War II drama “Hacksaw Ridge,” starring Andrew Garfield and directed by Mel Gibson.
Garfield is playing Desmond T. Doss, a medic and the first conscientious objector (someone who claims the right to refuse military service) to win the Congressional Medal of Honor after saving dozens of soldiers during the Battle of Okinawa. Weaving will portray his father, Tom Doss.
Shooting began several weeks ago in Australia. Gibson is directing from a script by Robert Schenkkan, Andrew Knight and “We Were Soldiers” screenwriter Randall Wallace. Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer and Rachel Griffiths also star.
