Flash back with me, will you, to 2004, when Mel Gibson was setting the world on fire with his project The Passion of the Christ, and Leonardo DiCaprio was gamely trying to snag an Oscar yet again for Martin Scorsese in The Aviator. Could you ever have seen those two crossing the divide between popular support and critical acclaim, joining hands and strapping on some Viking helmets?

I hope you didn't, because we'd really need to have a serious talk about your expectations for the future. But lo and behold, it's happened anyway-- Mel Gibson is planning to direct DiCaprio in "an untitled period drama about Viking culture," according to Coming Soon (the news is actually coming from Variety, but their new paywall structure requires me to sign up to view articles, and the signup process isn't working either, so forget it).

Even though this won't be another Leo-and-Marty production, many of the principals are involved-- producer Graham King, responsible for The Departed, The Aviator and Gangs of New York, is on board, along with William Monahan, the screenwriter who adapted The Departed and got an Oscar for his troubles. Can the same mainstream success come for these guys even without Scorsese involved? We can all agree, I think, that the prospect of DiCaprio in a Viking helmet is probably enough to get all of us in the theater.