Mel Gibson has slammed reports he’s divorcing his wife of 28 years after he was alleged to be cheating on her.

Recent tabloid reports suggested the actor was entangled in a $900 million (GBP598.24 million) divorce battle with wife Robyn Moore amid allegations of infidelity.

Gibson, 52, sparked rumors of an affair after he was snapped with a 28-year-old Russian singer named Oksana in September (08). The gossip was further fueled when they were seen again together on the set of his new movie Edge of Darkness.

A source told the National Enquirer, “It may turn out that Mel’s friendship with the woman is innocent, but Robyn warned him that if he embarrassed her one more time, their marriage is dead and buried.”

But a spokesperson for Gibson tells the New York Daily News the rumors of divorce and infidelity are “100 per cent untrue”.

Gibson and Moore share seven children, aged nine to 28.

Source: Contact Music

Last we heard, Shane Black’s treatment for a new Lethal Weapon film was shot dead in the water by series star Mel Gibson. IGN was able to talk to producer Joel Silver, who claims that the project might still happen, eventually.

We talked about it, but it was something that Mel didn’t want to do now,” Silver explained. “It doesn’t mean that he doesn’t want to do it ever, but as of right now, he doesn’t.” … “If we can do it, it would be fun. Shane [Black] had a great take on it, a great idea, a great feeling about it. He did a really complex kind of treatment or outline, very complicated, very good. The idea that they wanted to get it up right away, we couldn’t do that, but we’ll see what happens.

So, according to Silver, Mel just isn’t interested in returning to the series right now. But series director Richard Donner previously inferred that another installment isn’t likely to happen without his involvement. And from what I understand, Black wanted to helm a film based on the extensive treatment that Silver mentioned above. Shane Black is a great director, and an even better writer. Let Donner produce, but I’d rather see a fifth Lethal Weapon film with Black at the helm

Source: SlashFilm

In what is sure to be one of the most controversial releases ever to hit Blu-ray, Fox has announced a February street date The Passion of the Christ.

Mel Gibson’s violent depiction of the crucifixion of Christ, ‘Passion’ generated reams of controversy upon its original theatrical release and grossed over $600 million worldwide.

Fox will issue The Passion of the Christ: The Definitive Edition on Blu-ray February 17, day-and-date with a new standard DVD re-issue.

Newly-produced extras boast four audio commentaries (with Gibson, technical crew, a theological track with noted religious scholars, and a scene-specific composer commentary), the “Passion Recut” featurette, a “Footnotes” feature, and all of the materials found on the previous DVD release.

Tech specs will feature a BD-50 dual-layer presentation with 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video, English DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 Surround, and optional French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround dubs and subtitles.

Suggested retail price for the Blu-ray has been set at $39.98.

You’ll find the latest specs for ‘The Passion of the Christ: The Definitive Edition’ linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it’s indexed under February 17.

Source: High-Def Digest

I’ve added some photos of from Aug 16 - Spring Awakening and On Set - Undated Boston.

It may be a murky day in Roslindale, but on one local street the lights of Tinseltown are shining brightly.

A crew is now setting up to film scenes for Mel Gibson’s new flick, Edge of Darkness, along Bradfield Avenue.

In the movie Gibson’s character lives in a home on the street that in real life is owned by resident Jean Hutchinson. Talking about her experience, Hutchinson seemed unimpressed by all the Hollywood hoopla, but gave rave reviews to the cast and crew for their care they have used while in her home and the consideration she has been shown.

Hutchinson said she will also likely appear in the film in a very small role. She said a copy of her house was built in a local studio with slightly bigger rooms to facilitate filming.

Walking down the Bradfield Avenue you notice a fleet of Boston Police vehicles and news vans. It is only on closer inspection that you see these are Hollywood props strictly for movie use.

Originally slated to appear in the film, actor Robert De Niro, reportedly opted out of the film after discussions with the film’s director.

The filming is being done at night and is scheduled to continue through the end of this week.

Source: Wicked Local

Hollywood stars were last night preparing to flee for their lives as fire swept across California.

Two people have been killed in the inferno that has so far engulfed a 13,000-acre area around Los Angeles.

Malibu – home to stars including Pamela Anderson, 41, Pierce Brosnan, 55, and Mel Gibson, 52 – residents were warned they may have to evacuate their mansions.

Many houses have already been destroyed by the fire, which has been raging for three days. More than 1,400 homes were evacuated at the huge San Diego County Marine base and in nearby Oceanside. Over 2,000 firefighters are trying to contain the flames, helped by planes.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, 61, declared a state of emergency, saying: “Winds change conditions by the hour. That is why it is vital that residents in the areas surrounding these wildfires heed warnings to evacuate.”

Source: Daily Star

The moral of the story, according to Littleton native Gretchen Wilson, is that you never know what will happen on any given day.

In her case, what happened is that the stage actress got to be in a movie with Mel Gibson that was filmed in and around Northampton.

Backing up a bit, Wilson said she lived in Littleton until she was 8 years old, then moved away and came back to raise two of her four children.

In about 1999, she started acting in plays put on by the New Life Fine Arts, a theater group connected to the New Life Community Church that meets in Concord. She performs under the direction of New Life producer and director David MacAdam.

Wilson said her friend, Littleton resident Tom Olson encouraged her to try out for bit parts in movies, so one day she took her headshot and resume to the production company for the Edge of Darkness, starring Gibson.

“Tom said I should try to get into movies, so I started auditioning at open calls,” said Wilson who lives out of town.

She drove to Northampton in June for the audition and to drop off her photo and resume. Then drove home to resume her daily life. She was told she’d be called back if they wanted her from August to December.

Then by chance one day recently she was doing the laundry and cleaning house when she got a fateful phone call.

“They did a rush call and asked if I could be in an athletic club scene,” said Wilson. “So I thought, ‘Do I finish the laundry or drop everything and rush out to Northampton.’”

She chose wisely, she said. She rushed out to the set and got in some scenes with Mel.

“From there, I was called back to be in a courthouse scene,” said Wilson. “They did many takes with Mel. He was a pleasure to work with; fun to be around. He was always joking with the cast and the extras.”

According to publicity about the movie, it is “based on a British television series, Edge of Darkness, and it tells the story of Boston police officer Thomas Craven and his search for truth following the murder of his daughter. The trail leads Craven, who is played by Gibson, to Northampton where Northmoor, the company where his daughter works, is headquartered.”

“Movie producers have been careful not to divulge too much of the plot, but some of it involves government cover-ups and corporate intrigue,” according to press reports about the movie. On Wednesday, extras hired as protesters chanted in front of the Hampshire County Courthouse and held signs that said “Bombs Away” and “Don’t listen to the man behind the curtain” as Gibson drove by. Others were positioned along Main and King streets, posing as pedestrians. In all, about 200 extras were in the scene, according to Blaise J. Noto, a publicist for the film.”

“So you never know where you will end up,” said Wilson. “I wasn’t really ready to rush out that day. I could have said no. I didn’t know I would be having that great a time.”

Source: Wicked Local

Mel Gibson has turned down the chance to star in another Lethal Weapon movie - destroying hopes for a fifth film in the franchise.

Bosses at movie giant Warners Bros were confident of convincing Gibson and co-star Danny Glover to reprise their roles in the popular action series, ten years after the last Lethal Weapon movie.

But Richard Donner, who directed the first four films in the franchise, insists the Braveheart actor snubbed the offer to reprise his role as unhinged cop Martin Riggs.

He says, “Mel turned it down. I would like to think that Mel turned it down because I wasn’t involved. Knowing Mel, I would like to think that. Would that be the kind of thing he does? It sure would be.

“It’s too bad, actually, because Channing Gibson, who wrote the fourth one, and Mike Riva, a designer on three of them, had an incredibly strong story for the fifth movie. But we weren’t given the opportunity and I think maybe I could have convinced Mel to do it. But Warners chose to go with (producer) Joel Silver… the project is pretty much dead in the water unless someone had the sense to come to me.”

Source: Contact Music

Cut. That’s a wrap.

Mel Gibson and company are packing up after a week of shooting in and around Northampton, but they are leaving behind them a trail of money and a gaggle of star-struck fans.

Edge of Darkness, which stars Gibson as Boston police officer Thomas Craven, commandeered the streets of downtown Northampton for most of the week, stopping traffic and drawing crowds of rubber-neckers hoping for a glimpse of Gibson. Although the city has been the setting for several movies over the past few years, this will be the first time Northampton will play itself.

In Edge of Darkness, Gibson’s character goes on a search for truth after seeing his 24-year-old daughter Emma gunned down in front of him. His investigation leads him to Northampton, where the mysterious corporation Northmoor is headquartered. GK Films also shot scenes in Deerfield and Amherst.

Although the film’s producers did not disclose their budget, Edge of Darkness did not flinch when it came time to pay its way. For a single day of shooting at the Hampshire County Courthouse, it paid $10,000 to use the building and the lawn, according to Pennington Geis, the administrator for the Hampshire County Council of Governments. Court officials said the company also paid the crew of Five Star Roofing, which is repairing the courthouse roof, to suspend their work for a couple days.

GK Films compensated the city for parking revenue lost during the filming on Main Street. Although parking commissioner William Letendre said the figure has not been calculated, he estimated that it would be about $1,000. Northampton police were employed to direct traffic during several of the scenes. The film company paid about $11,000 for their services, according to Capt. Joseph Koncas. In addition, four officers, Gilberto Jimenez, Deirdre Yasutomo, Steven Digiammo and Timothy Satkowski, were employed as extras.

Edge of Darkness used 700 extras, many of whom are local residents. They include area lawyers, court officers and several employees of Tully O’Reilly’s Pub on Pleasant Street, where one of the scenes with Gibson was shot. Tully J. McColgan, who is one of the owners, said he got up at 4 a.m. on Monday to let the film crew in.

“It was a great experience,” he said. “I got to watch the whole set-up.”

McColgan’s cooks whipped up a variety of dishes for the scene and one of them served Gibson’s character. For verisimilitude, the film company also used several regulars in the bar scene.

GK Films rented several city lots for staging areas, including the parking lot at Paradise City Tavern on Main Street. Restaurant owner Claudio Guerra said he was paid $500 for the use of the lot, but didn’t otherwise profit from the presence of the film crew.

“There was zero increase in business,” he said. “Not a dime.”

For some reason, the film’s big wigs headed across the river to dine. Cliff H. Loeb, a manager at Judy’s Restaurant in Amherst, said Gibson ate there at least three times in parties of four to eight. The restaurant let him use a side room.

“We made sure no one came in and bothered him,” Loeb said.

Script writer William Monahan, a University of Massachusetts graduate, is no doubt familiar with Judy’s, but Loeb did not know if he was among those who ate with Gibson.

Gibson also dined at Green Street Cafe in Northampton, which is gaining a reputation as the feeding place of the stars. Owner L. James Dozmati said Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise and Michael Caine have eaten there in the past while filming in Northampton.

GK Films hired its own caterer to serve breakfast and lunch to the cast and crew. The staff at the Hampshire County Superior Court was invited to have lunch with Gibson and the rest of the crew one day last week as a courtesy to Clerk of Court Harry Jekanowski, Jr.

“We watched him go up and get dessert,” said clerk Elaine Jandu. “It was so exciting.”

The court staff also had a brief encounter with Gibson as he was coming up the inside stairs after slipping out back for a smoke. Jekanowski described him as a joker.

“I don’t know how much acting he really does, because he’s as wired as the people he plays in the movie scenes,” he said.

Executive producer E. Bennett Walsh said GK Films was drawn to Massachusetts in part because of the financial incentives the state offers. Massachusetts offers a 25 cent credit for every dollar a film company spends in the state. This year alone, seven films have been shot in the state.

According to a Massachusetts Department of Revenue report cited in The Boston Globe, the incentives have cost the state almost $120 million in lost tax revenues over the past three years. On the other hand, the film productions have generated $545 million in direct spending and resulted in hundreds of new jobs, the report said.

Source: Mass Live

“Mel Gibson is one of my favorite actors, and it’s a really fun thing to come down and watch them shoot,” says Anna Dagarin.

In the film Edge of Darkness Gibson stars as a Boston Police Detective investigating his daughter’s murder. And Northampton isn’t just a location for filming, but will be referred to by name and visited by Gibson’s character several times in the finished product.

“Even though we’re only shooting here two weeks, what we’re going to get, and the personality of it, is throughout the whole film,” says Executive Producer Bennett Walsh.

Tuesday the crew took over Main Street, using the inside and out of the Old Courthouse. The location was suggested by the film’s writer, a Massachusetts native.

“Given the architecture, and the unique stone, we felt that it was just going to give us what Northampton is,” says Walsh.

But it’s not only the town that will make an impression on the big screen. About 700 local extras will get a chance to be in the movie, and nearly 200 will be on the set on the streets of Downtown Northampton.

“It’s easy to bring people in, but it’s also nice to be part of the community,” says Walsh. “For me a big part of film making is trying to make it less mysterious.”

Part of that mystery was uncovered for fans as they watched Gibson tape numerous takes. And though the star didn’t greet the crowds outside, he did take time to thank the staff who helped secure the scenery.

“He was very gracious, and very kind and he shook my hand,” says Hampshire County Clerk of Courts Harry Jekanowski. “It was quite exciting to meet him, because he is quite a star.”

Gibson is expected to film at least one more day in Downtown Northampton, before moving to locations in Deerfield later in the week.

Source: CBS 3 Springfield