Mel Gibson has directed the incoming film Flight Risk. But the new trailer is going to some lengths not to mention his name.
Delayed since last year, the film Flight Risk is the kind of fare that we’re getting used to seeing at the start of the year. We had Plane a year or two ago around this time, and the mighty The Beekeeper became a useful hit 12 months ago. Flight Risk involves a plane, Mark Wahlberg going mad on said plane, and an FBI agent trying to bring him down.
A new trailer popped up this week, and what’s interesting about it is how far it goes not to mention its director.
Flight Risk is directed by Mel Gibson, a man who has an Oscar on his sideboard for his directorial work. You don’t need me to tell you that Gibson’s star has fallen hard by his own actions, and as such, while he has the resources to get films made, it gets tricky when it comes to actually sell them.
In the case of the Flight Risk trailer, released by Lionsgate, we get the tease that the film is ‘from the acclaimed director of Braveheart, Hacksaw Ridge, Apocalypto’, three different acclaimed films. But Gibson himself isn’t named at any point in the promo, that you can see here.
This has at least been noticed, and there’s a degree of pushback too in one or two places. Yet I do wonder if that overlooks the fact that movie studios – while far from flawless – do lots of research before putting out a promo. Lionsgate – I don’t work for it, nor do I have inside knowledge – will have tested whether the promotional campaign played better with Mel Gibson mentioned or not. I’d imagine that it does not consider his name a commercial asset.
Early word on Flight Risk – which co-stars Topher Grace and Michelle Dockery – appears to be positive. The film itself lands later this month. Just don’t expect to see Mel Gibson too much on the promotional trail.
