Mel Gibson And Joe Eszterhas To Tell Iconic Jewish Hero Judah Maccabee

The following comes from deadline.com:

If you expected Mel Gibson to tip toe as he prepares for his next movie, you were wrong. Warner Bros has set up an untitled drama that teams Gibson and screenwriter Joe Eszterhas to tell the heroic story of Judah Maccabee, the Jewish warrior who teamed with his father and four brothers to lead the Jewish revolt against the Greek-Syrian armies that had conquered Judea in the second century B.C.

Eszterhas will write the script and I understand that Gibson will collaborate with him. Gibson has the first option to direct it. He’s producing the film through his Icon Productions banner. Having put some painful person custody issues behind him, Gibson is determined to get back to making movies. Gibson has long wanted to make this film, and it was discussed even when he was under fire after allegedly making anti-Semitic remarks after an arrest. It’s understandable why Warner Bros would want to be back in business with Gibson, once a studio fixture who made a fortune for the studio with the Lethal Weaponseries and other films.

Maccabee’s triumph and struggle against tyranny and oppression where people gave their lives so that others would be free to worship is celebrated by Jews all over the world through Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. This subject matter is a decided departure for the filmmaker who directed The Passion of the Christ. But in a way the subject matter is in his wheelhouse: Maccabee is a close cousin to William Wallace, leader of the Scottish rebellion against the British in Braveheart, the film that brought Gibson Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. Gibson last directed Apocalypto and most recently starred in The Beaver.

The deal marks a major return for Eszterhas, once Hollywood’s highest paid screenwriter for films as Basic Instinct, Jagged Edge and Flashdance. His resume also includes two films that focused on Jewish themes: the 1987 Betrayed, which starred Debra Winger, and 1989’s Music Box, which starred Jessica Lange. Both films were directed by Costa-Gavras and produced by Irwin Winkler. The latter film initially got Eszterhas condemned by Hungary’s parliament for “betraying his heritage” by revealing the massacre of Jewish Hungarians by other Hungarians at the end of World War II. In 1995, Eszterhas was awarded the Emanuel Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his writings about the Holocaust in Hungary.

Eszterhas stepped away from Hollywood, moved to Cleveland, overcame cancer and has written several books. Both he and Gibson have had their share of travails, and make an unexpected and intriguing pairing.