At least the new season of True Detective is working for someone. Though it’s been raked over the coals by critics of late, the HBO crime drama is giving Vince Vaughn a chance to flex his dramatic muscles, and Mel Gibson has taken notice, enlisting the actor to star in his fact-based WWII story Hacksaw Ridge.
Andrew Garfield and Sam Worthington are already attached to star in the pic, which centres on Desmond Doss, the first Conscientious Objector in American history to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
Garfield, fresh out of the Amazing Spider-Man franchise, will play Doss in the movie, which will chart the journey of the 307th Infantry, 77th Army Division, 1st Battalion, Company B as they train for war. The story first picks up in South Carolina as they learn basic survival skills before they’re deployed to Japan to fight in what will become the Battle of Okinawa.
Vaughn will take on the meaty role of Sergeant Howell, a non-commissioned Alabama officer who works his soldiers as hard as humanly possible in hopes of instilling in them the knowledge and prowess they’ll need to avoid dying. Though he’s a rough-and-tumble sort, he does care deeply about his men, which makes Doss’ objection to shooting and killing the enemy all the more troubling for him.
Gibson has been flirting with the idea of directing Hacksaw Ridge for months, but he’s finally on board, working from a script by Robert Schenkkan and Randall Wallace. The embattled actor, who hasn’t toplined a mainstream movie since 2010’s Edge of Darkness, is looking to find a refuge of sort in directing. Perhaps Hacksaw Ridge will be able to get him back in the headlines for something positive – after all, Apocalypto was a terrific film, and if Gibson has kept his directorial skills honed, WWII drama aficionados will be in for a treat.
