Mel Gibson is heading back into the director’s chair, and this time with a big star in front of the camera.

Gibson, who has directed The Man Without a Face, Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, and 2006’s Apocalypto, hasn’t really ever directed a movie with an A-lister headlining the cast (except for himself). That’s about to change with his next film, as Variety is reporting that he will helm an untitled Viking drama with Leonardo DiCaprio starring. William Monahan, who I’m sure you’ll know by now as the writer behind the Gibson-starring Edge of Darkness and DiCaprio-starring The Departed, will pen the project, though little else is known about the story.

Gibson has displayed quite a talent for putting together a compelling drama with copious amounts of visceral violence, so I’m more than a little excited to see him take on the world of the Vikings. DiCaprio will undoubtedly have to beef up a bit to play a convincing Viking, but I’m sure he’ll do just fine in the role. Graham King helped put the project together and will executive produce, after having worked extensively with DiCaprio and Monahan in the past, and having just produced Gibson’s Edge of Darkness.

There hasn’t really been a good Viking movie in recent memory, with the last few efforts — Jim Caviezel’s Outlander and Karl Urban’s The Pathfinder being the two that come to mind — all proving to be underwhelming. With such a pool of talent involved in this new project, though, I’m sure it’ll at least attract a good deal of attention to the Nordic subjects, if not actually turn out to be a good film. It’s scheduled to start filming in the Fall of 2010, so we’ll keep you guys posted on how this one develops.

Tags: Graham King, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mel Gibson, Viking, William Monahan