Hollywood Never Would've Made This: Mel Gibson Developing Show About How Christians Fought off Muslim Invaders
There’s a TV series in the works in which Christians are the heroes, but it is not coming out of the major Hollywood studios where Christians are the foils for the noble people who are anything but Christians.
“I’m also working on a TV limited series about the Siege of Malta, which is an incredible story, and there’s only one place to film that, I mean, in Malta,” Gibson said, according to Movieweb.
“Because that’s where it happened, at these fortresses where 700 knights defended Malta against an onslaught from the Turkish and Suleiman sent 40,000 men and ships and, wow, the knights won. So, it’s a pretty crazy, great story,” he said.
The Great Siege of Malta of 1565! Centuries prior to that, the crusader order of Hospitaller warrior monks made a promise to defend Christendom against the most dangerous foes. At Malta, they kept their promise in face of full onslaught of the powerful Ottoman empire. (Thread!) pic.twitter.com/NHhPpXzn69
— Aristocratic Fury (@LandsknechtPike) March 29, 2022
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the Siege of Malta took place from May to September in 1565 when the powerful Ottoman Empire sought to take the Mediterranean island as part of its conquests.
At the time, Christians were reeling from years of defeats at the hands of the expanding Ottoman Empire.
“Controlled by the Knights Hospitaller since their expulsion from Rhodes, Malta was the key to Christian defenses against Ottoman expansion in the Mediterranean,” Britannica says, reporting that overall, 3,000 of 6,000 Christians died against 20,000 of 40,000 invaders.
“For the Ottomans, this was their worst reversal in more than a century, and it gave Christian Europe hope that Turkish expansion could be halted,” it wrote.
There was a time when Catholic warriors defended the Faith in the face of Islamic expansion. A well-made movie about Lepanto or the Siege of Malta would be great. No doubt, progressive Catholics, always embarrassed by the Church’s noble past, would be unnerved by such movies. pic.twitter.com/VHNoAjK6Uu
— A Milwaukee Catholic (@CCityCatholic) September 30, 2024
The Ottoman Empire was daunted by its defeat, but its European advance was not permanently halted until the Siege of Vienna in 1683.
Gibson has other projects moving forward, including plans to begin filming for the sequel to “The Passion of the Christ” this spring, according to the Daily Wire.
Gibson has developed six draft screenplays for “The Passion of the Christ: Resurrection,” according to the Christian Broadcasting Network.
The sequel has been in development for ten years.
The film will depict Jesus’ crucifixion as well as the three days which preceded His resurrection, according to film journalist Jordan Ruimy.
The Great Siege of Malta, 1565 – the Crusaders’ last stand…
The Siege of Malta was one of the most pivotal battles in European history. The Great Siege, as it is sometimes referred to, occurred in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire invaded the island, which was at time held by… pic.twitter.com/Gl4RuZ2Zqq
— Archaeo – Histories (@archeohistories) September 13, 2024
Gibson previously confirmed that the sequel was in the works in a 2016 conversation with evangelist Greg Laurie, according to CBN.
“It’s called The Resurrection. Of course, that’s a very big subject and it needs to be looked at because we don’t want to just do a simple rendering of it — you know, read what happened.”
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