The world of the Vikings offers enormous potential for exciting stories. This was proven, among other things, by the surprising series success ‘Vikings’ and the dirty, dramatic film ‘The Northman’ by Robert Eggers. Mel Gibson was also aware of the possibilities inherent in this world of subjects:
In the late 2000s, he expressed interest in directing a Viking epic called Berserker. He also had a prominent choice for the leading role: “Gangs Of New York” star Leonardo DiCaprio. But The project ultimately fell through because DiCaprio did not want to be associated with Gibson.
“Berserk”: The original plan
In the 2000s, Gibson caused a stir with two notable, controversial films: ‘The Passion of the Christ’ grossed over $612 million worldwide, while the action-adventure ‘Apocalypto’ grossed $120.7 million. That was a clear minus compared to the bloody Jesus drama. However, “Apocalypto” achieved an astonishing result as it is a brutal, starless film that voices Mayathan.
Both films found both fervent fans and widespread rejection, which was widely discussed in the media – including because of their depictions of violence and the accusation that they contain hate speech. Despite this controversy, Gibson planned to do something similar again in the late 2000s:
His next film would combine toughness, dialogue in different, historically correct languages and a great fascination for the cultures shown. The biggest difference with ‘The Passion of the Christ’ and ‘Apocalypto’: this time DiCaprio should also be a superstar.
William ‘Bill’ Monahan was hired to write the script, the dialogue of which had already been brought to life by DiCaprio – he wrote the script for Martin Scorsese’s thriller ‘Departed’. Graham King, who would produce the Viking film, delivered it in a press statement as if the project is already a done deal:
“It will be a stunning story created by some of the film industry’s most talented talentand I’m thrilled to be making this film with Mel, Leo and Bill,” said King. But contrary to the firm promise that ‘Berserker’ would shoot in the fall of 2010, nothing came of the project.
Gibson’s transgression and DiCaprio’s departure
Mel Gibson already had a long history of controversial statements and run-ins with the law. And In July 2010, the ‘Braveheart’ star returned to negative headlines: Recordings of a telephone conversation between Gibson and his former partner Oksana Grigorieva have been made public.
In it, an angry Gibson threatens, among other things, to burn down Grigorieva’s house. As a result of this incident, a restraining order was issued against Gibson to keep him away from Grigorieva and her daughter. Gibson was also investigated for domestic violence allegations.
DiCaprio quit ‘Berserker’ in the summer of 2010noisy explicitly because of these incidents. Monahan also left the project – and without having achieved anything: just like him explained that it was just about announcing the Viking epic, but he didn’t write a single word.
In 2012, Gibson testified He then stuck with the ‘Berserk’ idea – now with ‘Braveheart’ and ‘Pearl Harbor’ author Randall Wallace at his side. Of the project’s failed first iteration, Gibson said simply, “Things happen and people go away and do their thing, and I do my thing.”
In the twelve years since, ‘Berserker’ has still not made any progress. Instead, Gibson’s directorial comeback was the war film “Hacksaw Ridge,” released in 2016, and film adaptation of the thriller “Flight Risk” starring Mark Wahlberg, Topher Grace and Michelle Dockery began in 2023.
Gibson also promised to honor ‘Lethal Weapon’ director Richard Donner, who died in 2021, by filming a fifth installment of the action series. Gibson has also been developing several sequels to ‘The Passion of the Christ’ for years. So he probably won’t find time for Vikings anytime soon.