[August]

Sounds to me like it's more a case of writer sour grapes.

Gibson responded to the allegations in his own letter, saying: "I would have thought that a man of principle, as you purport to be, would have withdrawn from the project regardless of the money if you truly believed me to be the person you describe in your letter."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."
The actor added he still wanted to make the movie, just not based on Eszterhas' script.
"Both Warner Brothers and I were extraordinarily disappointed with the draft," he said.
"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."
The Maccabees was intended as a drama based on Judah Maccabee, widely revered as one of the greatest warriors in Jewish history.