Jews Stop the Latest Mel Gibson Movie about the Jewish Maccabee revolt in the 2nd century B.C..

Maccabee led a revolt in the Second Century B.C. against a Greek-Macedonian state. The Hanukkah holiday is tied to the revolt’s victory. But Gibson’s involvement drew criticism from prominent Jewish leaders like Abraham Foxman of the Anti Defamation League, who accused his previous film, 2004′s The Passion of the Christ, of promoting antisemitism.

The script for the Maccabee movie was submitted to the studio this week, but was rejected by execs, according to sources.

Exclusive — Warner Bros. has put on hold a controversial Mel Gibson movie project about the Jewish Maccabee revolt in the 2nd century B.C. after reading the script by writer Joe Eszterhas, TheWrap has learned.

The Revolt of the Maccabees

The Jewish revolt against the Greeks sets a precedent in human history – it becomes the world’s first religious war.

This revolt of the Jews sets a precedent in human history. It is the world’s first ideological/religious war. No one in the ancient world died for their gods; only the Jews thought that their religion—the only monotheistic religion at the time—was worth dying for.

But it is not just a war against the Greeks, it is also a civil war—Jews, who were loyal to Judaism, fighting other Jews, who had become Hellenized and who were siding with the Greeks.

The year is 167 BCE and the horrible persecution of Judaism by the Greeks is in full swing. The Greek troops show up in the town of Modi’in (a site west of Jerusalem which you can visit today off the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway)

A spokesman for the studio told TheWrap, “We are analyzing what to do with the project.”

Jewish groups were outraged after news broke in September that Gibson had reached a production deal with Warner’s to direct the story of Judah Maccabee, whose victory over Greek and Syrian armies is celebrated at Hanukkah. One Jewish group called it “a moral lapse in judgment.”

Joe Eszterhas, born in Hungary, grew up too fast in 1940s refugee camps.

Eszterhas delivered the script in late February, and Warner’s has since passed on it, according to an individual close to the project. Warner production president Greg Silverman described it as lacking in “feeling” and “a sense of triumph,” according to the individual.

As another individual put it, “The script didn’t pass muster.”

more at source

Mel the Viking: Now Gibson is invading England AND Scotland in movie... speaking Old Norse

I look forward to seeing this, sure to be a great movie!

He may have faced criticism for his interpretation of William Wallace's battle for Scottish independence in Braveheart, but that hasn't deterred Mel Gibson from producing another history-based movie.

This time the actor is planning to turn his directorial skills towards the Viking invasion of England and Scotland in the ninth century.

Gibson, 54, will follow a similar route to his previous films The Passion Of The Christ and Apocalypto by filming all of the scenes using Old Norse language, with English subtitles. 

The forthcoming movie is as-of-yet untitled, but Gibson plans a historically accurate and violent recreation of the Viking terror that engulfed Scotland and England over a thousand years ago.

Gibson said: 'I think it's going to be [in] English - the English that would have been spoken back then - and Old Norse. Whatever the ninth century had to offer. I'm going to give you real.

'The very first idea I ever had about making a film was when I was 16 years old and I wanted to make a Viking movie.

'And I wanted to make it in Old Norse, which I was studying at the time. That was the first big, epic, wacky idea I ever had.'


He revealed: 'I want a Viking to scare you. I don't want a Viking to say, "I'm going to die with a sword in my hand."

I want to see somebody who I have never seen before speaking low, guttural German who scares the living - out of me coming up to my house.'

The script is being developed by William Monahan, who wrote the screenplay for the Oscar-winning crime drama The Departed and work is expected to begin in the autumn.

Producer Graham King said: 'This will be an awe-inspiring story.'

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