Mel Gibson will team with Joe Eszterhas for a biopic of Jewish warrior Judah Maccabee, Deadline reports. The pair will team for the screenplay and Gibson will possibly direct as well.
Maccabee was the leader of a revolt that began in 167 BC and, after years of fighting, successfully drove his enemies from Jerusalem. It is for that effort that Hanukkah is observed in the Jewish religion.
Gibson recently appeared in The Beaver and hasn’t directed since 2006’s Apocalypto, his follow-up to the The Passion of The Christ, which also dealt with a significant religious figure. Eszterhas, meanwhile, is best known for screenplays like Basic Instinct, Sliver and Flashdance.
(Photo Credit: Ian Wilson / WENN.com)
