In one of last year's stranger bits of Hollywood moviemaking news, word dropped in December that Mel Gibson and Leonardo DiCaprio were teaming up for a brutal period drama about Viking culture. Mel would direct, Leo would strap on the horn-bedecked Viking helmet, and the world would surely fork over cash to check out what that duo created.

Yet projects come and go. One need only visit DiCaprio's IMDb page to see how many films he reportedly has in the works. Is this Viking epic really going to happen?

Most definitely, the actor told MTV News.

"I always wanted to do a Viking movie," he said. "I'm a big history buff, and I don't think there's been a really fantastic Viking movie ever made. Those were some of the most barbaric people ever in history."

Expect barbarism to be on full display in the movie, as it was during earlier Gibson films like "Braveheart," "The Passion of the Christ" and "Apocalypto." DiCaprio, for his part, has done the period-drama thing before -- "The Quick and the Dead," "Romeo + Juliet," "Gangs of New York" -- but never in something that promises to be as raw, and perhaps as bloody, as this Viking flick. But ask DiCaprio why he wants to make this movie with Gibson, and his answer will have nothing to do with amassing a gnarly body count.

"I'd love to see Mel Gibson's version of that, because certainly with 'Apocalypto' and some of the other films he's made, he's been able to transport me back in time unlike very many filmmakers have been able to," he said.

Are you looking forward to what Mel and Leo come up with? Let us know in the comments!

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