Barring minor roles in both Machete Kills and action sequel The Expendables 3, it’s going on half a decade since we last saw Mel Gibson headline a feature film. That’s all about to change with the release of Blood Father later in 2016, an old-school thriller that has Gibson assume the role of a vengeful patriarch known as John Link.
An ex-convict seeking redemption – stop us if you’ve heard this one before – Blood Father pulls Gibson’s grizzled lead back into the thick of the action when he is tasked with protecting his estranged daughter (Erin Moriarty) from a deadly drug ring. It’s all very familiar territory. Take the espionage thriller beats of Taken and swap out a European city setting with the sun-kissed desert outback (Mad Max?) and you’ll begin to get a sense of the film’s trite genre tendencies.
Also starring William H. Macy, Thomas Mann, Elisabeth Rohm, Diego Luna and Michael Parks, Blood Father is arriving by way of French director Jean-Francois Richet, working from a script pitched by Peter Craig of The Town fame.
Blood Father has been pegged for debut in Australia come August 25. We understand that Lionsgate holds international rights for Gibson’s latest screen appearance, so expect the action-thriller to expand overseas later in 2016.