He's still too controversial for a cameo in The Hangover Part II, but Mel Gibson is going to be back to starring in his own movies as early as next spring. After pulling it from a fall release date in an obvious response to Gibson's summer PR disaster, Summit Entertainment has set an early 2011 for The Beaver, the Gibson-starring dark comedy directed by Jodie Foster.

According to Deadline Summit has settled on a spring date, and Entertainment Tonight will be airing the film's trailer debut on Friday night, meaning we're in for another one of those annoying chopped-up trailers with Mary Hart talking over it (they do it for all the Twilight movies too). There's a sense that many moviegoers are coming to terms with the idea of seeing Gibson on the screen again, and while there will always be holdouts-- feminists and domestic violence support groups are probably going to stage some protests-- the moviegoing public tends to forgive and forget quite readily.

Much as the mere sight of Gibson kind of grosses me out right now, I'm truly curious about the film Foster has made, and if Gibson's performance is really as good as she's promising. It'll take a lot more than just one good role for us to forget those tapes entirely, but a good showing for The Beaver-- and a very apologetic press tour-- could go a long way.

UPDATE: Summit has sent over a new image from The Beaver featuring Jodie Foster, Mel Gibson and his furry friend. Check it out below.