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.”

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