Lionsgate buys Mel Gibson's 'Blood Father' for U.S. release

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - Lionsgate has bought U.S. distribution rights to action-thriller "Blood Father," starring Mel Gibson.

Jean-Francois Richet directed "Blood Father" from a script by Peter Craig ("The Town"), who adapted his novel of the same name. The film was shot in the late spring in New Mexico.

Gibson plays an ex-con who reunites with his estranged 16-year-old daughter, and vows to protect her from the drug dealers who are trying to kill her. The daughter is played by Erin Moriarty, who portrayed Woody Harrelson's daughter in HBO's "True Detective."

Elisabeth Rohm, William H. Macy and Diego Luna also star.

Why Not Productions produced. Wild Bunch launched international sales at Cannes.

Gibson and Andrew Garfield have been in talks to come on board World War II drama "Hacksaw Ridge." If the deals go through, Gibson will direct the movie, based on the life of Desmond T. Doss, the first conscientious objector to win the Congressional Medal of Honor, for saving dozens of soldiers during the Battle of Okinawa while serving as a medic.

Lionsgate handled 2011's "The Beaver," starring Gibson, Anton Yelchin, Jennifer Lawrence and Jodie Foster with Foster directing.

News of the Lionsgate deal was first reported by Deadline.com.