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.

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.