Thursday, March 18, 2004

What's next for Gibson?

Apparently, Mel Gibson is slated to do a fourth Mad Max movie. However, there are rumors that Gibson may choose to do another epic from the Biblical era. Gibson may be considering doing the story of the Jewish Maccabean revolt against an Islamic ruler. This revolt took place 200 years before the birth of Christ and is the source of the the Jewish holiday of Hanakkah.

Yossi Katz, and Iraeli-born educator, has apparently suggested that Gibson make a movie about the Bar Kochba Revolt of A.D. 132-135. This was a Jewish revolt against the Romans. This rebellion ended in tragedy for the Jews, but this story seems like a good fit for Gibson since it would easily translate into three bloody hours of drama.

I personally would like to see either of these movies, but Abraham Foxman, executive director of the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League is not so optimistic. "He'll write his own history," Foxman says. "I would prefer to leave the fate of Jewish history and Hollywood to Steven Spielberg. The Maccabees and Bar Kochba are our sacred history."

If you want to read more about this, check out the article in the Orlando Sentinel.