The Anti-Defamation League criticized Mel Gibson following news that he is planning to make a film based on the life of Judah Maccabee.
Gibson’s Icon Productions concluded a production deal with Warner Bros. Studio for the project.
“We would have hoped that Warner Bros. could have found someone better than Mel Gibson to direct or perhaps star in a film on the life of the Jewish historical icon Judah Maccabee,” the ADL’s national director, Abraham Foxman, said in a Sept. 9 statement.
It is not yet clear whether Gibson will act in or direct the film. Joe Eszterhas is reportedly going to write the screenplay.
Gibson’s 2004 film “The Passion of the Christ” angered many in the Jewish community who felt that it played into notions of Jewish culpability for the killing of Jesus. Later Gibson landed in hot water after spewing anti-Semitic invective during a drunken confrontation with a police officer. — jta