Mel Gibson May Sail His Viking Ship Right into Retirement

It's been a long career for Mel Gibson, and you know just as well as he does that there is likely no way to follow his Viking adventure epic starring Leonardo DiCaprio. As such, you probably won't be surprised to hear that the actor/director/dead-language-cinema impresario might not even bother trying.

A report notes that Gibson and DiCaprio had a five-hour meeting last fall to discuss the project, which was apparently a "topic of mutual passion" for both men. The difference is that Gibson has pretty much been building up to this his whole life, and the man who made The Passion of the Christ doesn't need to go to work again if he doesn't want to for a loooonnng time:

Gibson recently reflected on the meeting as a special moment for him - a chance to get underway with a project that started as a daydream during his youth. "It was the first movie I ever thought about making," Gibson said. "I saw it in my mind back when I was teenager. Seriously, it's the first movie I wanted to make. And I think it will be the last film I direct. It's the thing I have been going toward, in a way, since I was young, and I think when it's done I may be finished."

Fair enough. Mel earned it. And you know what? Even after the long, grueling development and production process, Gibson will still probably walk away from the Vikings before Brett Favre does.

· Mel Gibson says Viking movie (starring Leonardo DiCaprio) may be his last [LAT]