Mel Gibson developing movie about Jewish warrior Judah Maccabee

[bemildred]

Hold onto your yarmulkes! Mel Gibson — the Oscar-winning actor-director whose star has faded these past few years amid anti-Semitic remarks, domestic violence allegations, and two box-office disappointments (Edge of Darkness and this summer’s The Beaver) — is now developing an untitled epic about the Jewish warrior hero Judah Maccabee, EW has confirmed. (Deadline first reported the story.)

Gibson is producing the film for Warner Bros. through his Icon Productions company. Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct, Showgirls) has signed on the write the script, and upon its completion, Gibson will have the option the direct the film if he so chooses.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/09/08/mel-gibson-judah-maccabee-movie/

Oy.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Oy gewalt!

[King_David]

2. This forum should just merge with the Jewish forum,

Their is no discernible difference.

[azurnoir]

3. seem to repeating yourself why is that n/t

[King_David]

7. Cmon , take a guess as to why

I repeated myself in those 2 PARTICULAR posts.

I am confident you will work it out..

;)

[bemildred]

4. Feel free to Xpost anything you like. nt

[King_David]

8. No need,

I too will just recognize this as the de facto

Jewish forum..

I have no problem with it , it is just further proof

of the " oneness" of the state of Israel and

the Jewish Perle ( worldwide ) in ALL of

OUR minds .

[Fozzledick]

5. More torture porn?

[bemildred]

6. That's what I was thinking.

I was wondering what sort of abuse Mel was going to get himself subjected to this time. Sort of like with Stallone movies, which also tend to swing that way.

[bemildred]

9. ADL slams Warner Brothers for partnering with Mel Gibson on Judah Maccabee film

The Anti-Defamation League slammed Warner Brothers on Friday for reportedly partnering with the actor Mel Gibson based on the life of Judean hero Judah Maccabee.

Gibson has a history of making anti-Semitic remarks publically, and came under fire for his depiction of Jews in his 2004 film, “The Passion of the Christ”.

“We would have hoped that Warner Bros. could have found someone better than Mel Gibson to direct or perhaps even star in a film on the life of the Jewish historical icon Judah Maccabee,” ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman said in a statement Friday.

Foxman continued, saying, “not only has Mel Gibson shown outward antagonism toward Jews and Judaism in his public statements and actions, but his previous attempt to bring biblical history to life on the screen was marred by anti-Semitism.”

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/adl-slams-warner-brothers-for-partnering-with-mel-gibson-on-judah-maccabee-film-1.383557

[bemildred]

10. Mel Gibson's Maccabee movie: Penance or career self-destruction?

No, it isn't April's Fool Day. But I had to do a quick check of the calendar when I heard the news that Mel Gibson was developing a movie for Warner Bros. about the life of Judah Maccabee, the much heralded warrior who led a heroic revolt in 160 BC that is celebrated every year at Hannukah by Jews. You know, the same Jews that Gibson has infamously maligned, not only in a nasty anti-Semitic rant after he was arrested for drunken driving but in his enormously successful film "The Passion of the Christ."

The announcement of the project makes it clear that Gibson is back in good standing in Hollywood, at least at Warner Bros., arguably the industry's leading studio, despite the fact that Gibson as recently as last summer was in hot water again, for making racist and misogynistic remarks in a taped conversation with his then-girlfriend. If Warners was at all worried about its image, it easily could have decided to wait until Gibson finished the film before agreeing to do a deal with the star, who will be directing but not necessarily appearing in the film.

The fact that Warners agreed to bless the Gibson film before it even had a script in hand -- it's being penned by Joe Eszterhas -- shows that the studio felt it was on safe ground in terms of blowback about lending the Warners shield to the project.

Of course, the blowback is already here, with a host of Jewish leaders, including the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Marvin Hier and Anti-Defamation League national director Abraham Foxman, already blasting the decision. Foxman said it would be a "travesty" to have the Maccabee story told "by one who has no respect and sensitivity for other people's religious views." Hier topped that, railing against the way Gibson portrayed Jews in "Passion of the Christ" as "idiots and buffoons" before adding a coup de grace, saying that having Gibson at the helm of a story about Judah Maccabee "is like casting Madoff to be the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or a white supremacist as trying to portray Martin Luther King Jr. It's simply an insult to the Jews."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2011/09/imel-gibsons-maccabee-movie-.html