Director Todd Phillips and film studio Warner Bros were ready to cast the Oscar-winning actor and director of movies such as "Braveheart" as a tattoo artist in "The Hangover 2", but have now withdrawn the offer. "I thought Mel would have been great in the movie and I had the full backing of (the studio)," Phillips said in a joint statement with Warner Bros.
"But I realize filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and this decision ultimately did not have the full support of my entire cast and crew." "The Hangover 2" will reunite Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Justin Bartha, who starred in the 2009 original in which the friends try to piece together events of a rowdy Las Vegas bachelor party and find their lost buddy.
The movie raked in more than $467 million at global box offices. No reason was given for the apparent rebellion against Gibson performing in the sequel, but it follows a scandal that has engulfed Gibson for months over audiotapes of phone calls in which he rants at his former girlfriend. Gibson, who has remained silent in the face of months of damaging publicity, also offended Hollywood's Jewish community with an anti-Semitic tirade after a 2006 drunk driving arrest. Gibson's representative had no comment.
