Kevork Djansezian / AP file

Mel Gibson and Joe Ezsterhas will collaborate for an untitled drama about Jewish warrior Judah Maccabee, it was first reported late Thursday. Deadline Hollywood broke the news, saying that Gibson "had long wanted to make this film about heroic Jews, and it was discussed even when he was under fire after his drunken anti-Semitic rant during a 2006 Malibu arrest."

A decided departure from other Gibson films like "Lethal Weapon" or "The Passion of the Christ," Gibson will be a producer and direct the film (Eszterhas will write the script), which is being made by Warner Bros.

A certain level of outrage was anticipated when the news broke -- after all, Gibson has hardly been known as a bastion of tolerance and understanding in recent years. Now, Jewish leaders are speaking out about what they feel is hypocrisy in having Gibson involved. Rabbi Marvin Heir, founder and dean of Los Angeles's Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance, told The Hollywood Reporter, "He’s had a long history of antagonism with Jews. Casting him as a director or perhaps as the star of Judah Maccabee is like casting (Bernie) Madoff to be the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or a white supremacist as trying to portray Martin Luther King Jr. It's simply an insult to Jews."

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti Defamation League, also issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter saying, “Judah Maccabee deserves better. He is a hero of the Jewish people and a universal hero in the struggle for religious liberty. It would be a travesty to have his story told by one who has no respect and sensitivity for other people’s religious views."

Maccabee, along with his father and brothers, led the Jewish revolt against the Greek-Syrian armies of the Seleucid Empire during the second century BC. Hanukkah is a celebration of the success of the revolt. 

Rony Veliz / AFP photo

Mel Gibson holds a baby during a visit to the pediatrics ward of the Hospital General San Juan de Dios in Guatemala City, Guatemala, on Wednesday.

Perhaps it's a little early to deem Mel Gibson a changed man, but the actor is taking steps to do some good in the world.

On Wednesday, the actor flew to Guatemala to working with charitable organization Mending Kids International, which provides medical care to underprivileged children. Gibson and his ex-wife, Robyn, have been working with the charity for several years, according to TMZ.

On Thursday, his lawyer Blair Berk appeared before the judge that sentenced Gibson in relation to his domestic violence dispute, for which he pleaded no contest in March. TMZ reports that Berk "presented proof Mel has paid his fines, performed his community service, and got high marks from his psychiatrist, who says Gibson has been going to therapy every week and making progress."

Gibson might be achieving some modicum of personal success, but professionally he's not recovered entirely. His latest film, "The Beaver," made only $885,631 worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. A far cry from the estimated $21 million production budget.

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• Slideshow: Mel Gibson's life and career

For the first time since Mel Gibson's profanity-laced audio recordings went public, the actor is opening up about the "personal betrayal" he experienced, and what type of reception Hollywood has given him in the wake of the scandal.

"I’ve never treated anyone badly or in a discriminatory way based on their gender, race, religion or sexuality -- period. I don’t blame some people for thinking that though, from the garbage they heard on those leaked tapes, which have been edited," Gibson told journalist Allison Hope Weiner, who posted her interview on Deadline Hollywood.

You can read the complete interview here.

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The Hollywood Reporter

In a few hours, Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster's much-hyped/delayed film "The Beaver" will finally screen at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. People who watch the film won't just be seeing a professional performance, but some of Mel Gibson's channeled pain playing out onscreen.

"God, I love that man,” Jodie Foster told the The Hollywood Reporter. “The performance he gave in this movie, I will always be grateful for. He brought a lifetime of pain to the character that we’ve been talking about for years, that I knew was part of his psyche and who he is. It’s part of him that is beautiful and that I want people to know, too. I can’t ever regret that.”

Foster has steadfastly defended Gibson as his legal battles with ex Oksana Grigorieva played out in public, and she continues to be his one-woman publicity machine. “He’s so incredibly loving and sensitive, he really is,” she to THR. “He is the most loved actor I have ever worked with on a movie. And he’s not saintly, and he’s got a big mouth, and he’ll do gross things your nephew would do. But I knew the minute I met him that I would love him the rest of my life.”

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GQ

While doing press for her role in "Black Swan," Winona Ryder unexpectedly veered into Mel Gibson territory, recalling an encounter she had with him many years ago.

"I remember, like, 15 years ago, I was at one of those big Hollywood parties. And he was really drunk. I was with my friend, who's gay. [Mel Gibson] made a really horrible gay joke," Ryder tells GQ in its new issue. "And somehow it came up that I was Jewish. He said something about 'oven dodgers,' but I didn't get it. I'd never heard that before. It was just this weird, weird moment. I was like, 'He's anti-Semitic and he's homophobic.' No one believed me!"

You can read the entire article here.

Slideshow: Mel and more of the celeb scandals of 2010

It's rare to see Mel Gibson in public, even rarer to see him in public with his daughter Lucia, who is at the center of the ongoing custody battle between Gibson and her mother Oksana Grigorieva. TMZ has photos of Gibson and Lucia on the grounds of Gibson's church in Malibu, Calif.

Gibson has yet to speak publicly about Grigorieva's allegations of domestic abuse. A source close to Gibson suggests that the actor has no intention of making public statements about the feud. "It will work itself out in the courts," said the source.

Tamron Hall and I marvel at the trailer for the film that will mark Mel Gibson's comeback, and we also have an update on the status of the Chilean miners' movie deal.

Ray Tamarra / Getty Images file

Mel Gibson films a scene for "The Beaver" in New York in October, 2009.

"The Beaver," the Mel Gibson film directed by Jodie Foster that had a delayed release in the wake of Gibson's ongoing battle with ex Oksana Grigorieva, is reportedly getting a release date.

Deadline.com first reported that the film's distributor, Summit Entertainment, will give "The Beaver" a Spring 2011 release. According to a source at Summit who spoke to Scoop, there wasn't a plan to shelve the film indefinitely, but "ongoing conversations" throughout Gibson's scandal would determine when the film would be released.

Foster has remained supportive of Gibson, and has described the actor's performance in "The Beaver" as "one of his most powerful and moving performances." In the film, Gibson plays a troubled husband who begins to communicate solely through a beaver hand puppet.

Related slideshow: Mel Gibson's life and career

For the first time since cutting Mel Gibson loose from "The Hangover II," director Todd Phillips discusses with The Hollywood Reporter the ways in which Gibson's cameo differed from Mike Tyson's in "The Hangover," and how Gibson took the news of his firing. For a very interesting look at what really happened behind the scenes, check out the video here.