The 3-decades-lengthy romance between Warner Bros. and Mel Gibson has hit a tough patch.Inside a move that surprised couple of, the studio has shelved the questionable project about Jewish hero Judah Maccabee that teamed film writer Joe Eszterhas with Gibson, who had first choice to direct and convey via his Icon Prods. banner. Gibson's participation inflammed Jewish leaders if this was introduced seven several weeks ago, given his good reputation for anti-Semitic comments. Studio brass made the decision now that they are not prepared to film the Eszterhas script, a choice that sparked a fiery war of words between Eszterhas and Gibson that performed out online. Eszterhas stated Gibson deep-sixed the project due to his deep-sitting anti-Semitism, an accusation that Gibson flatly refused.Warner's decision this past year to take a risk around the Maccabee movie reflected its lengthy and mostly lucrative relationship using the actor. The studio first grew to become associated with Gibson if this handled the 1982 discharge of "The Street Warrior" and 1985's "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome," then went one step further using the launch from the "Lethal Weapon" franchise.The 4 "Weapon" movies, launched between 1987 and 1998, made near to $500 million locally and nearly much overseas. Gibson also starred in four other Warner films: 1994's "Maverick," which capped $100 million locally, "Tequila Sunrise," "Conspiracy Theory" and "Fringe of Darkness." The second pic, viewed as something of the comeback for Gibson after his anti-Semitic comments throughout a 2006 Drunk driving arrest, completed a middling performance with $43 million locally -- an indication that debate had reduced Gibson's box office drawing energy.Warners has continued to be non-committal. "We're examining what related to the project," a spokesperson stated.Gibson's last outing, in Summit's Jodie Promote-directed drama "The Beaver," came a sparse $a million domestic gross.Within the wake of Warner Bros. putting the Maccabee project on hold, Gibson spokesperson Alan Nierob stated his next project is that appears to be pointing a Viking pic compiled by Randall Wallace. The duo teamed on "Braveheart," with Wallace writing and Gibson pointing and starring.
