Mel Gibson and 'Basic Instinct' Writer Seeking Redemption With New Film About Jewish Warrior?
Mel Gibson and famed screenwriter Joe Eszterhas are teaming up to make a movie about Judah Maccabee, the Jewish warrior whose victory over the Greek armies is the reason for Hanukkah.
The decision by Gibson to direct and possibly star in a movie about Maccabee has drawn criticism from the Anti-Defamation League, who say that he is a poor choice to make a film about one of Judaism's most cherished figure.
"It would be a travesty to have the story of the Maccabees told by one who has no respect and sensitivity for other people’s religious view," the ADL said in a statement. “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.”
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Deadline.com has also reported that Joe Eszterhas, the screenwriter of erotic pulp flicks like Showgirls, Basic Instinct, and Sliver, are already working on a new script about the life and times of Judah Maccabee.
The film project marks an interesting development in the careers of both Gibson and Eszterhas. Gibson has fallen from the Hollywood stratosphere in recent years due to his controversial religious views and personal issues, including drinking problems and a nasty divorce that did more damage to his image than most divorces due to tapes of him berating his wife with racist, misogynistic remarks being released to the public.
But Hollywood can be a forgiving place – as long as you’re making hits. However, Gibson has not done so since The Passion of the Christ in 2004 and has suffered a series of flops since then.
Making a movie about Judah Maccabee, with the possibility of fantastic images of great biblical-era battles would be a return to stories like Braveheart and Passion that Gibson is known for having such a great affinity for.
It could also be marked as a symbolic plea for redemption to Jewish people after many accused the actor-director of overplaying the atrocities of Jews in “Passion of the Christ” and making anti-Semitic remarks to a police officer who pulled him over for drunk driving.
Gibson has vehemently denied an anti-Semite, but the images and the words have tarnished the image of the Academy Award-winning actor-director. But by making a full-length feature film about one of Judaism’s great heroes, Gibson will bring to light a figure not well-known outside Jewish and biblical scholar circles.
Whether or not the film will repair Gibson’s image as an individual as well as a Hollywood hit-maker will remain to be seen.
The Maccabee project is also a new beginning for screenwriter, Joe Eszterhaus. Eszterhaus had an immensely successful screenwriting career in the 80’s and 90’s when he penned mega-hits like Basic Instinct and Flashdance. He also wrote the screenplay for Showgirls, which was an tremendous failure at the box office and is on several “worst films ever made” lists. However, the film flop was resurrected in video, collecting over $100 million in sales and currently sits on MGM’s top 20 list of most successful videos in movie history.
After several years at the top, Eszterhas exchanged Hollywood for Cleveland in 2001 after being diagnosed with throat cancer – the result of decades of heavy smoking and incessant drinking. In order to survive, his doctor said he had to change his lifestyle dramatically: lose weight, eat healthy, and most importantly – stop smoking and drinking immediately.
The change was more difficult than he could handle and he needed help.
"I asked God to help me," Eszterhas told USA Today in 2004. "I think changing everything about my life and rediscovering prayer were the reasons I was able to get through my addictions. It's been nearly three years, and I have not had a cigarette or a drink. I consider it one of the great achievements of my life, but I am humble about it."
Eszterhas wrote about how difficult it was for him to beat his addictions before turning to God for help.
"I was going crazy,” he wrote in his 2008 memoir, Crossbearer, which details his return to the Christianity of his youth. “I was jittery. I twitched. I trembled. I had no patience for anything. … Every single nerve ending was demanding a drink and a cigarette.”
With the lifestyle change and extensive cancer treatment, Eszterhas recovered from the cancer scare.
The Christian Post wrote in 2008 that, as a result of his new faith and health, he Eszterhas turned down offers as much as $3 million to write scripts for movies with gratuitous sex scenes and graphic violence like many of his other films.
"Frankly my life changed from the moment God entered my heart. I'm not interested in the darkness anymore," he told the Toledo Blade in 2008. “I've got four gorgeous boys, a wife I adore, I love being alive, and I love and enjoy every moment of my life. My view has brightened and I don't want to go back into that dark place.”
However, Eszterhas wrote Basic Instinct 2, a sequel to what is arguably one of his sexiest and violent screenplays, as well as Lust, a movie about a dangerous love triangle scheduled for release in 2012.
But the chance to write a screenplay about Judas Maccabee offers Eszterhas a chance to return to more serious-themed films he wrote in the 80’s, such as Betrayed,” about a Jewish undercover FBI agent who infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan.
According to TMZ, Gibson has been working on the Maccabee project for over a decade. There is no word yet on a production start date.
