Mel Gibson's The Beaver Bombs At The Box Office On Opening Weekend

The Beaver, starring Mel Gibson, opened May 6 in 22 theaters in major cities across the U.S., and the movie made a paltry $104,000.

The question is, can Mel's floundering career survive a box office failure? The Beaver was actually fairly well-reviewed, with a 65 percent approval rating on RottenTomatoes.com and critics applauding Mel's performance.

But controversy has surrounded the actor's career since last summer, when recordings of him screaming at ex Oksana Grigorieva hit the Internet and she accused him of abuse (she dropped the allegations last week.)

Still, maybe the movie is to blame. The film, about a father who starts speaking through a puppet, is definitely a niche project. It's a unique comedy drama that industry insiders say would have been tough to market with any actor in the leading role (Steve Carell was once attached). But, the Mel Gibson of old might have been a big enough name to draw a crowd, similar to what Brad Pitt did for the independent film Babel.

The Beaver, directed by Jodie Foster, opens in wide release May 20. Gibson has not done any major press for the movie, though at the end of April he gave his first interview since last summer. In it, the actor talked about whether his career could recover. See what he said and tell us what you think after the jump.