After seven years away and one epically hatey meltdown, Mel Gibson's big-screen comeback finally has a studio backer.

Warner Bros. on Wednesday acquired the domestic rights to Edge of Darkness, featuring Gibson as a Boston detective grappling with his only child's murder. Martin Campbell directed, Robert De Niro walked out, and everyone remaining is preparing for the shitstorm forecast for Gibson's release back into the wild. It's his first leading role since Signs in 2002 and officially ushers in a new, post-SugartitsGate era for Gibson's PR squad. But at least the hard work is mostly done, with Warners having spent the last year rehearsing with one crisis after another and Team Gibson at the ready with its boilerplate mea culpa just in case. And anyway, Miley Cyrus's scandal game passed Gibson's by years ago. This is as win-win as it gets.