A Controversial Director Just Had His First #1 Box Office Hit In Nearly 20 Years

It was a very quiet weekend at the box office as January 2025 is getting off to a mighty slow start. The entire first half of 2024 was pretty brutal, but at least January had hits like "The Beekeeper" and "Mean Girls" to help carry the load. No such breakouts have emerged yet this year, but hey, something has to top the charts even when we're looking at the ticket sales equivalent of tumbleweeds. Director Mel Gibson's new thriller "Flight Risk" was that film this past weekend, taking the crown with an estimated $12 million haul. With that, Gibson now has his first number one hit in nearly 20 years.

Any weekend in which a movie manages to take the top spot with $12 million is pretty rough, which we should state right up front. Setting that aside, Lionsgate gets to claim it has the number one movie in the country, albeit for a brief time. "Flight Risk" has been met with a truly terrible response from critics and audiences alike. It's not going to hold well in the coming weeks. Even so, it was a modestly budgeted $25 million picture (before marketing), meaning that this one is going to make some money when all's said and done. With that, a controversial filmmaker is also once again firmly in the limelight, which opens up a whole other can of worms. Gibson may have directed "Braveheart," but that was a long time ago.

A contained thriller, "Flight Risk" centers on a pilot (Mark Wahlberg) who is hired to transport an Air Marshal (Michelle Dockery) and a key witness (Topher Grace) set to testify in a high-profile trial. Flying over the Alaskan wilderness, however, it comes to light that not everyone aboard this tiny plane is who they seem. Chaos ensues.

Had things shaken out differently over the last 20 years, we wouldn't be having this exact conversation. The fact of the matter is, however, Gibson has done a lot to blemish his once good name in Hollywood. From his alleged history of antisemitism to pleading no contest to a battery charge against his ex-wife, Gibson's transgressions are well known and, to put it lightly, difficult to overlook. And yet, here we are, with the man sitting in the director's chair on the number one movie in the U.S.

Despite Gibson's reputation, he has continued to work very consistently as an actor, appearing in films like "Boss Level" and the "John Wick" spin-off series "The Continental." As a director, though, he's been far more selective and/or had a tougher time getting financing. His last directorial effort came in 2016 with "Hacksaw Ridge." While the war drama went on to make $180.5 million worldwide, it debuted at number three behind "Doctor Strange," which was in the middle of its big box office run for Marvel.

The last time Gibson was behind the camera on a number one movie was in December 2006 when his inventive drama "Apocalypto" topped the likes of "The Holiday" and "Blood Diamond" with a $15 million opening. It went on to make $120.6 million against a $40 million budget. Ever since, because of Gibson's various transgressions, it's become much harder for him to be at the center of a high-profile project. Even if a studio wants to work with him, the baggage that comes with it is too heavy to not consider.

Whether or not this leads to a comeback of sorts for Gibson, who knows? Again, "Flight Risk" has been met with rough reviews, so it's not as though this is some critical darling. It seemed more likely that "Hacksaw Ridge" would have sparked a bigger comeback. It didn't. More likely, this is just an example of a problematic figure getting an opportunity that could have gone to someone else. Evidently, in the eyes of many moviegoers, Gibson's name isn't enough of an issue to ward them off.

"Flight Risk" is in theaters now.