Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge Release Date Announced by Lionsgate

Lionsgate has announced a release date for director Mel Gibson’s latest, the true World War II tale Hacksaw Ridge, which stars Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths and Vince Vaughn in the story of Corporal Demond Doss, the first conscientious objector to receive the US congressional Medal of Honor. The Hacksaw Ridge release date is a wide release planned for November 4, 2016.

Doss, who will be played by Garfield, was drafted into World War II at age 23. Raised a Seventh-day Adventist, he refused to kill or carry a weapon and, as such, became stationed as a medic. President Harry S. Truman presented Doss with his commendation on November 1, 1945, citing numerous acts of bravery and sacrifice performed by Doss in the line of duty. Doss was the only American soldier to serve on the front lines without a weapon, and single-handedly saved the lives of 75 men.

Hacksaw Ridge is scripted by Robert Schenkkan and Randall Wallace, the latter of whom worked with Gibson on Braveheart. The center of the story is likely to focus on 1945’s three-month military assault Operation Iceburg, also known as the Battle of Okinawa. “Hacksaw Ridge” was the name given the location of a particularly brutal two-week confrontation wherein United States troops faced off against Japanese soldiers on the rocky cliffs of Okinawa.

Bill Mechanic, Brian Oliver, David Permut, Terry Benedict, Paul Currie, Bruce Davey, William D. Johnson and Tyler Thompson produced Hacksaw Ridge through Cross Creek Pictures, Demarest Media, Pandemonium, Permut Presentations and Gibson’s Icon Productions.