Performances aside, Flight Risk commits the nearly unforgivable sin of turning a great thriller premise into laughably convoluted potboiler fare.

Despite the turbulence, Mel Gibson’s “Flight Risk” managed to open No. 1 at the box office with a modest $12 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Film Review, a movie directed by Mel Gibson, written by Jared Rosenberg and starring Michelle Dockery, Mark Wahlberg

Mel Gibson's new action film "Flight Risk" has topped the North American box office, taking in an estimated $12 million on a slow winter weekend, industry analysts said Sunday.

"Flight Risk"—director Mel Gibson’s new action thriller starring Mark Wahlberg—is targeting a No. 1 debut at the weekend box office.

Lionsgate’s advertising campaign for “Flight Risk” credits its latest film to “the award-winning director of ‘Braveheart,’ ‘Apocalypto’ and ‘Hacksaw Ridge’,” which seems a circumspect way of recognizing Mel Gibson as its helmer.