Will the Public Forgive Gibson and See His Movie?

This weekend could mark the most important two days of Mel Gibson's career.

His multi-million dollar Mayan epic, “Apocalypto,” a violent film with no movie stars and without any English, opens Friday. And just months after his DUI arrest and anti-Semitic tirade, Mel is about to find out if America is ready to forgive him.

Mel received a standing ovation Thursday night while appearing on Jay Leno's show, and he joked about the summer scandal that had everyone talking.

“If I feel like clutching for the turpentine, I just, you know, DeVito and Clooney just talk me through it,” Gibson joked.

But will Mel still be smiling after this make or break movie weekend?

Jill Bernstein, senior editor of Entertainment Weekly, broke down what the weekend box office could mean.

"Everybody is dying to know how 'Apocalypto' is going to do this weekend," she said. "If this movie does fantastically well, he has much more good will out there than you might expect him to. If the movie does poorly, I don't think he's going to stop making movies."

But box office aside, producing, directing and co-writing “Apocalypto” has become Mel's personal passion.

“The definition for 'Apocalypto' is a new beginning,” Mel explained. “We seek a new beginning.”