Mel Gibson in talks to direct Andrew Garfield in WWII film

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Mel Gibson is in talks to direct Andrew Garfield in the World War II drama Hacksaw Ridge.

Garfield would play real-life war hero Army Private First Class Desmond T. Doss, who was drafted in 1942 and won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his work as a medic, even though he refused for religious reasons to bear arms.

The Hollywood Reporter said the movie has been in development for more than 13 years and was at one point titled The CO. Gibson's We Were Soldiers director Randall Wallace was originally set to helm it.

If a deal can be worked out soon, cameras should be rolling on the project next year.

Gibson was seen on-screen this year in the aging action hero flick The Expendables 3. The last film he directed was 2006's Apocalypto. He won an Oscar for Best Director for 1995's Braveheart.

Garfield is best known for his work in the comic-book adaptations The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. His dramatic credits include 99 Houses, The Social Network, Never Let Me Go and Boy A.