In what might be one of the biggest shocks of the year, Mel Gibson and Joe Eszterhas have decided to combine their talents for a new project: Jewish War Hero Judah Maccabee (Judas Maccabeus). That’s per Deadline Hollywood.
It’s a bit of a shocker because of Gibson’s anti-semitic past. After some slurs during a 2006 DUI arrest, which further compounded some allegation of anti-semitism in The Passion of the Christ and his father’s denial of the existence of the Holocaust earlier coming to light, Gibson’s standing with the Jewish community hasn’t been the highest.
What does this mean? For a guy like Gibson to want to craft a tale about the guy for whom Jews crated Hanukkah to commemorate his war victory, amongst others, is something. But it actually might not be a bad thing because Judah Maccabee shares a lot in common in terms of historical significane with another war hero from history that Gibson’s already tackled: William Wallace.
If there’s someone to do a tale about the Jewish William Wallace, Gibson as a director would be great for it. He has a flair for the big historical piece and has already created one rousing tale of heroism. The problem comes when Gibson’s, ahem, past comes up and it gets a little dicey. Gibson still has plenty of cash from The Passion of the Christ, so odds are he’ll probably self-finance this one if needed.
