Mel Gibson Planning 'Passion of the Christ' Sequel

Courtesy of Photofest

By Paul Bond

'Braveheart' screenwriter Randall Wallace says he is writing a follow-up to the biblical blockbuster that will focus on the resurrection of Jesus.

(The Hollywood Reporter) Mel Gibson and writer Randall Wallace are working on a sequel to The Passion of the Christ that will tell the story of the resurrection of Jesus, Wallace tells The Hollywood Reporter.

Wallace, nominated for an Academy Award for scripting Gibson's 1995 best picture Oscar winner Braveheart, on Thursday (reluctantly) confirmed rumors that he has begun to write a script for a story about the resurrection, telling THR that the project is becoming too difficult to keep under wraps.

Wallace, who most recently directed and co-wrote the 2014 faith-based drama Heaven Is for Real, says he and Gibson began to get serious about a sequel to The Passion, the most successful independent film of all time, while making Hacksaw Ridge, which Gibson directed and Wallace co-wrote. Hacksaw Ridge opens in November and centers on World War II Army medic Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. br>
Wallace was a religion major at Duke University and says the resurrection was a specialty of his. "I always wanted to tell this story," he says. "The Passion is the beginning and there's a lot more story to tell."

A rep for Gibson declined to comment on the filmmaker-actor's involvement in a Passion sequel.

The Passion, Gibson's story of the persecution and crucifixion of Jesus, was released in 2004 by the independent Newmarket Films and earned a whopping $612 million worldwide on a $30 million production budget. Since then, many in Hollywood have presumed a sequel would someday be made, but Gibson has moved on to other projects.

Rumors swirled anew last month when Gibson was a surprise guest at Liberty University's graduation ceremony to do an advance screening of Hacksaw Ridge and was asked about a Passion follow-up. He expressed interest in making a sequel but was not specific about his involvement. Wallace says demand in the Christian community influenced his and Gibson's willingness to do another film.

"The evangelical community considers The Passion the biggest movie ever out of Hollywood, and they kept telling us that they think a sequel will be even bigger," Wallace says.

No studio or financial backing has been lined up for the project, which is still in the early script stage. But Wallace indicates there are several financiers interested in investing. "It's too early to talk money," he adds. "This is such a huge and sacred subject."

In February, Sony released Risen, which tells the story of the resurrection, though Gibson wasn't involved. The movie made $46 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.

Link:

• Mel Gibson Planning 'Passion of the Christ' Sequel (Exclusive)

Patriot Actress Skye McCole Bartusiak Dies at Age 21

(US Weekly) Skye McCole Bartusiak, who played Mel Gibson's young daughter in 2000's The Patriot, died at the age of 21 on Saturday, July 19. She was found at her home in Houston, Texas, but a cause of death has not been determined, CNN reports.

Bartusiak's mother Helen McCole Bartusiak told CNN that her daughter had been suffering from epileptic seizures recently, and her boyfriend found her sitting up in her bed.

"We think she had a seizure and choked and nobody was there," her mother said. "They were working on her for 45 minutes and could not get a heartbeat."

Bartusiak began her career in 1999 at the age of six in The Cider House Rules. She also played the daughter of Michael Douglas' character in 2001's Don't Say a Word.

Her mother said that more recently she had been working on producing and directing her first feature film.

Link:

• Patriot Actress Skye McCole Bartusiak Dies at Age 21

Mel Gibson 'saves group from snake attack'

(Belfast Telegraph) Mel Gibson reportedly saved a group of people from a deadly snake while on a cleansing retreat...

He recently spent some time at the Miraval Resort & Spa in Arizona, which is when the incident occurred.

"Mel was on a cleansing retreat? and was on a five-mile hike into the desert mountains with eight other guests when he suddenly heard an ominous rattle he knew well as a long-time resident of the Malibu mountains! A split second later, a huge rattlesnake slithered onto the trail and went into attack mode. Instantly, Mel shielded three women next to him with his body, yelling, 'Stay back!'" a source told National Enquirer.

The serpent was six feet long and Mel's companions were reportedly frozen with fear. One managed to hand the actor a tree branch, which he used to fend off the snake.

"Mel charged the rattlesnake, yelling at the top of his lungs, and beat it back off the trail. Then he stood guard, keeping the snake at bay while everyone moved quickly past the danger point," the source added. "When all were safely distant, the group gave Mel a rousing cheer."

Link:

• Mel Gibson 'saves group from snake attack'

Three War Veteran Dies, Featured in Movie We Were Soldiers

Actor Sam Elliott played Basil L. Plumley in the film We Were Soldiers

COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP via Boston.com) — Basil L. Plumley, a renowned career soldier whose exploits as an Army infantryman were portrayed in a book and the movie ‘‘We Were Soldiers,’’ has died at 92 — an age his friends are amazed that he lived to see.

Plumley fought in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam and was awarded a medal for making five parachute jumps into combat. The retired command sergeant major died Wednesday.

Friends said Plumley, who died in hospice care in west Georgia, never told war stories and was known to hang up on people who called to interview him. Still, he was near-legendary in the Army and gained more widespread fame through a 1992 Vietnam War book that was the basis for the 2002 movie starring Mel Gibson. Actor Sam Elliott played Plumley in the film.

Plumley didn’t need a Hollywood portrayal to be revered among soldiers, said Greg Camp, a retired Army colonel and former chief of staff at neighboring Fort Benning who befriended Plumley in his later years.

‘‘He’s iconic in military circles,’’ Camp said. ‘‘Among people who have been in the military, he’s beyond what a movie star would be. ... His legend permeates three generations of soldiers.’’

Debbie Kimble, Plumley’s daughter, said her father died from cancer after spending about nine days at Columbus Hospice. Although the illness seemed to strike suddenly, Kimble said Plumley’s health had been declining since his wife of 63 years, Deurice Plumley, died last May on Memorial Day.

A native of Shady Spring, W.Va., Plumley enlisted in the Army in 1942 and ended up serving 32 years in uniform. In World War II, he fought in the Allied invasion of Italy at Salerno and the D-Day invasion at Normandy. He later fought with the 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment in Korea. In Vietnam, Plumley served as sergeant major — the highest enlisted rank — in the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment.

‘‘That puts him in the rarest of clubs,’’ said journalist Joseph L. Galloway, who met Plumley while covering the Vietnam War for United Press International and remained lifelong friends with him. ‘‘To be combat infantry in those three wars, in the battles he participated in, and to have survived — that is miraculous.’’

It was during Vietnam in November 1965 that Plumley served in the Battle of la Drang, the first major engagement between the U.S. Army and North Vietnamese forces. That battle was the basis for the book ‘‘We Were Soldiers Once ... And Young,’’ written nearly three decades later by Galloway and retired Lt. Gen. Hal G. Moore, who had been Plumley’s battalion commander in Vietnam.

In the 2002 film version, Mel Gibson played Moore and Elliott played Plumley. Galloway said several of Elliott’s gruff one-liners in the movie were things Plumley actually said, such as the scene in which a soldier tells the sergeant major good morning and is told: ‘‘Who made you the (expletive) weather man?’’

‘‘Sam Elliott underplayed him. He was actually tougher than that,’’ Galloway said. ‘‘He was gruff, monosyllabic, an absolute terror when it came to enforcing standards of training.’’

That’s not to say he was mean or inhuman, Galloway said. ‘‘This was a man above all else who had a very big, warm heart that he concealed very well.’’

Plumley retired with the rank command sergeant major in 1974 at Fort Benning, his last duty station. He then took a civilian job doing administrative work for the next 15 years at Martin Army Community Hospital.

Camp said Plumley remained strong until just a few weeks before his death. He helped open the Army’s National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning in 2009. Camp, who now works for the museum’s fundraising foundation, said Plumley helped him get Elliott to come narrate a ceremony dedicating the parade ground outside the museum. When Camp mentioned the actor’s name, Plumley handed him Elliott’s cellphone number.

After Plumley became ill, Galloway mentioned his worsening condition on Facebook. Fans of the retired sergeant major responded with a flood of cards and letters. The day before he died in hospice, Camp said, Plumley received about 160 pieces of mail.

‘‘He was dad to me when I was growing up,’’ said Kimble, Plumley’s daughter. ‘‘We are learning every day about him. He was an inspiration to so many. He was a great person, and will always be remembered.’’

Link:

• Vietnam vet Plumley dies; featured in war movie

Mel Gibson Responds to Joe Eszterhas Re: Judah Maccabee Film Script

(The Miami Herald) Mel Gibson has fired a return volley toward Joe Eszterhas in the jousting over why Warner Bros. rejected the screenwriter's screenplay for a proposed movie about Jewish warrior Judah Maccabee.

The studio said Wednesday that it was not proceeding with Eszterhas' script and was “analyzing what to do with the project.”

The news prompted the “Basic Instinct” writer to allege in a letter posted by the Wrap (http://www.thewrap.com) that Gibson, who was to produce and possibly direct the film, never wanted to make it because, as Eszterhas said of Gibson, “You hate Jews.”

The actor and filmmaker, in response, sent Eszterhas a letter of his own, also sent to the Los Angeles Times, alleging that Eszterhas' script was “substandard” and “a waste of time.”

The full text of the letter follows:

Joe,

I have your letter. I am not going to respond to it line by line, but I will say that the great majority of the facts as well as the statements and actions attributed to me in your letter are utter fabrications. I would have thought that a man of principle, as you purport to be, would have withdrawn from the project regardless of the money if you truly believed me to be the person you describe in your letter. I guess you only had a problem with me after Warner Brothers rejected your script.

I will acknowledge like most creative people I am passionate and intense. I was very frustrated that when you arrived at my home at the expense of both Warner Brothers and myself you hadn't written a single word of a script or even an outline after 15 months of research, meetings, discussions and the outpouring of my heartfelt vision for this story. I did react more strongly than I should have. I promptly sent you a written apology, the colorful words of which you apparently now find offensive. Let me now clearly apologize to you and your family in the simplest of terms.

Contrary to your assertion that I was only developing Maccabees to burnish my tarnished reputation, I have been working on this project for over 10 years and it was publicly announced 8 years ago. I absolutely want to make this movie; it's just that neither Warner Brothers nor I want to make this movie based on your script.
Honestly, Joe, not only was the script delivered later than you promised, both Warner Brothers and I were extraordinarily disappointed with the draft. In 25 years of script development I have never seen a more substandard first draft or a more significant waste of time. The decision not to proceed with you was based on the quality of your script, not on any other factor.

I think that we can agree that this should be our last communication.

Mel

h/t The Eponymous Flower

Link:

• Mel Gibson vs. Joe Eszterhas

Related:

• Mel Gibson on Viking Epic ‘Berserker’, ‘Maccabee’ & ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’

Mel Gibson on Viking Epic ‘Berserker’, ‘Maccabee’ & ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’

 AP Photo

From Simon Dang at The Playlist:

When it was announced that Mel Gibson was teaming with writer Joe Eszterhas for a biblical epic about Jewish historical figure Judah Maccabee, we more or less assumed that it would mean the death of his long-gestating Viking epic, which was originally supposed to team Gibson with William Monahan, Graham King and Leonardo DiCaprio. Monahan even confirmed late last year that he never wrote a word for the project and that, as far as he knew, it never went past the announcement. Well, it looks like throughout all his recent struggles, Gibson never gave up on his Viking dreams.

At a recent American Cinematheque Q&A [via L.A. Times] after a screening of "Mad Max," Gibson revealed that he's "got a couple of things on the boil, a couple of projects that I'm writing. I just got a second draft of something I'm really excited about today." Questioned whether it was his Judah Maccabee project, Gibson surprisingly replied -- to the delight of the crowd -- that "it's actually a Viking thing. Vikings, as you know, are very unsympathetic characters and these guys will be bad. I sort of hooked up again with Randall Wallace, who did the script on 'Braveheart.' Yeah, it's pretty good. It's called 'Berserker.'"

Questioned whether the Vikings will have horns on their hats as is the typical stereotype, Gibson said "they did not have horns. No, I don't think they had horns. They're going to look real." He continued, "They're not going to be running around like the '50s," referencing Richard Fleischer's 1958 pic 'The Vikings' starring Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis. "I want to make something real and visceral."

Gibson also later confirmed that the team on board the earlier iteration of the project (King, DiCaprio, Monahan) was pretty much gone, adding that "things begin and people wander off and do their thing and I do my thing. I just took my stuff and wrote it with Randall. Where it goes from here is anyone's guess." No word on if the plan to film the whole project in the defunct Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon languages is still going ahead but, either way, we've definitely got fingers crossed that Gibson can make it all happen.

The Q&A also touched on George Miller's latest 'Mad Max' film, which Gibson more or less confirmed as the same feature film he was going to star in with Miller in the early '00's -- as we previously reported. He did, however, interestingly add that he had met his replacement, Tom Hardy, some time ago. "I like that kid [George's] got, Tom Hardy. He's a very interesting actor. He reminds me of one my sons a bit but I had lunch with him, he's a firecracker. It'll be good. He was already cast [at the time], he just wanted to check in. I don't know, maybe it was like 'Is it okay?' I was like 'Sure, it's fine. Have a ball, knock yourself out. I got better things to do.'"

As for his Judah Maccabee project? "I'm working with Joe Eszterhas on that. That's from the last two books of the Old Testament, which is like; [turns to audience] just read it some time. Maccabee 1 and 2. Just read it, it's like a Western. It's an amazing story. It's heroic beyond belief. The entire might of the Seleucid Empire, which was Persia, their whole objective at the time was to wipe Judea off the map and they almost did it except for this little hold out that miraculously grew and wanted it all back again."

All in all, it certainly sounds like Gibson has plenty on his plate with the two histrorical epics and, if the reception from the crowd at the Q&A are any indication, it seems like his troubled times are behind him. Forgive and forget, Leo?

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Mel Gibson To Produce Story of Judah Maccabe

By MIKE FLEMING

(Deadline New York) It’s a project that will have everybody in Hollywood and beyond talking. I’ve learned that Warner Bros has set up an untitled drama that teams Gibson and screenwriter Joe Eszterhas on the telling of the heroic story of Jewish warrior Judah Maccabee. Eszterhas will write the script, and I understand that Gibson will collaborate with him. Maccabee teamed with his father and four brothers to lead the Jewish revolt against the Greek-Syrian armies that had conquered Judea in the second century B.C. Gibson has the first option to direct but will definitely produce the film through his Icon Productions banner. It’s understandable why Warner Bros would want to be back in business with Gibson, who was once a high-profile fixture there and who made a fortune for that studio with the Lethal Weapon series and other films... (continued...)

Read More Here

Satan in the Passion of the Christ

When asked why he portrayed Satan—an androgynous, almost beautiful being played by Rosalinda Celentano—the way he did, Gibson replied: "I believe the Devil is real, but I don't believe he shows up too often with horns and smoke and a forked tail. The devil is smarter than that. Evil is alluring, attractive. It looks almost normal, almost good—but not quite.

"That's what I tried to do with the Devil in the film. The actor's face is symmetric, beautiful in a certain sense, but not completely. For example, we shaved her eyebrows. Then we shot her almost in slow motion so you don't see her blink—that's not normal. We dubbed in a man's voice in Gethsemane even though the actor is a woman … That's what evil is about, taking something that's good and twisting it a little bit."

But what about the ugly baby?

"Again," said Gibson, "it's evil distorting what's good. What is more tender and beautiful than a mother and a child? So the Devil takes that and distorts it just a little bit. Instead of a normal mother and child you have an androgynous figure holding a 40-year-old 'baby' with hair on his back. It is weird, it is shocking, it's almost too much—just like turning Jesus over to continue scourging him on his chest is shocking and almost too much, which is the exact moment when this appearance of the Devil and the baby takes place."

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Mel Gibson's New Film

Mel Gibson to Return to the Big Screen

Mel Gibson arrives for the Los Angeles industry screening of "X-Men Origins-Wolverine" at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, CA.
JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

Mel Gibson is headed back to the big screen.

The 53-year-old actor -- who is expecting a baby with girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva -- has signed on to headline The Beaver, a drama to be directed by Jodie Foster.

Gibson will play "a depressed man who finds solace in wearing a beaver hand-puppet," according to Variety. Foster will play his wife...

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"Keep me in your prayers; I'm going through a bad time in my life"

"Mel Gibson made a private and unexpected visit to St. Louis this week. He came to pray and talk to bishops from the Eastern Catholic Church Bishop Conference.

I was more than surprised; I was flabbergasted," said Bishop Robert Shaheen of the Maronite Church. Shaheen had little warning about Gibson's visit. The mega star decided to pay a visit after learning the Maronite tradition within the Catholic Church uses a dialect of the historic language of Jesus , Aramaic, during the Mass.

Gibson's compelling movie, "The Passion of the Christ," used the Aramaic language and English subtitles to tell the story of the last days of Jesus.
"A dozen Eastern Rite bishops from various traditions shared dinner with Gibson Wednesday night at Bartolino's Osteria in west St. Louis City. "He was very kind, very gracious, really no business," said Bishop Shaheen. Gibson asked the clergy about the differences among their traditions and the languages they use to celebrate liturgy.

The group shared traditional St. Louis style toasted ravioli and other Italian dishes. Gibson signed a menu for owner Bart Saracino and then one of his assistants paid the entire bill.

Gibson has led a controversial and very public life. He was accused of being anti-semitic and criticized for his personal life. He is currently facing divorce proceedings. "He didn't ask us of anything. He didn't ask us to endorse him," said the Bishop adding," He never said anything about his personal life except 'keep me in your prayers; I'm going through a bad time in my life.'"

Thursday morning Gibson arrived at the Maronite Church Pastoral Center near downtown to attend Mass with the bishops. He shared breakfast with them and then left to ride home on his private plane."

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L.A. Diocesan Spokesman: Mel Gibson is "not a Roman Catholic"

"(Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony's) diocesan spokesman Tod Tamberg declared: “Mel Gibson is not a Roman Catholic and is not subject to the canons of Catholic law.”

And he added tersely: “Repeat – he’s not a Roman Catholic and is not subject to our process regarding marriage and annulment.”

Devout Gibson, 53, has adopted a traditional or “Old -Roman” form of the faith.

This includes the celebration of the Tridentine Mass in its original Latin format.

Followers are not recognised by the modern church. Gibson’s friends are furious over Cardinal Mahony’s public attack.

One said yesterday: “It’s like taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut or, in this case, pointing the finger of God at a famous guy who is an easy target.”

Mel’s wife Robyn, 52, filed for divorce last week.

The couple married in 1980 and have one daughter, six sons and one grandchild."

• Cardinal Puts Boot Into Mel
  
• Card. Mahony on the “Tridentine” Mass
  

Mel Gibson's New Movie

Fr. Longenecker and Mel

"OK then, here's the Mel Gibson story:

I was living in London, and it was the year before Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ came out. There was some doubt as to whether Gibson would be able to get backers to help with the distribution of the film. He came to London to meet with Catholics involved in film and media as well as some potential financial backers to show us a rough cut of the movie.

Since I was writing film reviews at the time for Catholic papers I got an invitation. We saw the film in a little cinema in Soho in London, and afterward Mel Gibson appeared on stage to ask for our opinion and for any comments and suggestions.

I said that I liked the way he referenced famous Catholic art with his composition of shots and directorial style, and was this intentional. He admitted that it was, and I then said I would have liked to have seen a reference to the famous Salvador Dali crucifixion based on a vision of St John of the Cross in which we see the crucified Lord from the viewpoint of heaven.

Steve--a friend of mine piped up, "I would have liked to have seen some sign of God the Father's grief at the death of his son." Mel took all this on board. We packed up and some of us went off to dinner at a well to do Catholic's home. On the terrace I had the chance to talk personally with Mel Gibson about his Catholic faith and his commitment to the Church.

About a year later, after the film was released, Steve called me and said, "Dwight, have you seen Mel's movie?"

"Not yet," I replied.

"You got to go see it. He put our scenes in."

"What do you mean?"

"You know you said you wanted to see the crucifixion from God's perspective and I wanted to see a sign of the Father's grief?"

"Yes."

"Both scenes are now in the picture."

Sure enough. After Our Lord dies the camera zooms up to view Calvary from the celestial perspective, and then there is a clap of thunder and a single drop of rain--like a teardrop from heaven--falls in slow motion to the earth and the earthquake begins and the torrent starts to fall."

Those two short scenes were not in the rough cut of the movie we saw in London."

Posted by Fr. Dwight Longenecker at Sunday, September 28, 2008

h/t to Mulier Fortis

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