Having proven his post-drunken-Jew-baiting appeal with the success of Apocalypto, Mel Gibson is back, baby! His TV production company, Con Artists, had been shopping a slew of concepts last summer without much success. What a difference a hit makes!

According to Gibson's spokesman, Alan Nierob, AMC has just purchased a miniseries from Con Artists based on the book, 11th Month, 11th Day, 11th Hour, by Joseph Persico. "It is sold," says Nierob. (An AMC spokesman couldn't confirm that a deal had, in fact, been reached.) The script will be written by John Milius, the writer/director behind Apocalypse Now and Conan the Barbarian. (A fervent gun nut and NRA board member, Milius penned the famous Dirty Harry line, "Go ahead, make my day.") Nierob adds that Con Artists also has a new deal with Lifetime for a show called The Mansion. (A Lifetime spokesman couldn't be reached for elaboration.)

According to IMDbpro, Con Artists currently has one other TV project in development, a miniseries called Peace Out about civilians who find themselves wandering around Iraq after the American takeover of Baghdad in 2003. (The information about the show is only available to IMDbpro subscribers.) Slated to air on the USA Network sometime in 2007, Peace Out was already underway before July 28, when Gibson launched into an anti-Semitic rant in front of police officers who'd pulled him over for drunk driving. Gibson has previously produced Kevin Hill (starring Taye Diggs) and Complete Savages, both of which were cancelled.

In any case, the chaotic battlefield settings of both shows should give Gibson plenty of opportunities for the gruesome scenes of suffering and dismemberment that are his metier.