Here's a message from the Damn Shame Department: Variety reports that Robert De Niro has left the set of Edge of Darkness, and he won't be coming back.

Last month, we expressed a cautious excitement about De Niro and Mel Gibson working side-by-side on this revamped version of Edge of Darkness. Both the film and the BBC series on which it is based have Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) in the director's chair, and the update was written by William Monahan. The film just began shooting two weeks ago in Massachusetts, with Gibson playing a Boston cop investigating the murder of his daughter. Through his digging, he uncovers some pretty unsavory things, including "government collusion." In the BBC series it was nuclear secrets. That's a plot point that could easily be changed.

Bobby D was scheduled to play a government agent sent in as a cleaner after the murder. Now the production will probably idle while a replacement is found. If only more actors had experience play cops, then this would be an easy fix. As it stands, however, cop movies are so few and far between that you're probably never going to find an actor with that kind of experience on his resume.

Why did De Niro bolt right after the project began?

His spokesman said, "Sometimes things don't work out; it's called creative differences."

I know De Niro has a legacy few can match, but I'm going to side with Campbell here. Clearly he has a pretty good idea of what he wants, both in terms of his visual style and the narrative. He's a more than competent director and his grasp of this material is beyond reproach. So if De Niro had an issue with Campbell, I say that's on De Niro. I suppose it's possible he had issues with Gibson, although Mel has always had a great reputation with his co-workers, in spite of his recent personal upheaval.

We'll probably never get the full story, but I've got nine dollars and some Jamba Juice coupons that say Harvey Keitel will be on the set next Wednesday.