The Hollywood screenwriter Joe Eszterhas has accused Mel Gibson of sabotaging a planned film about a famous 2nd century BC Jewish revolt for antisemitic reasons in an explosive letter to the disgraced actor and director.

Studio Warner Bros yesterday announced the cancellation of The Maccabees, which Gibson had been attached to direct, suggesting that Eszterhas's script lacked "a sense of triumph". In response, Eszterhas wrote a nine-page letter to Gibson in which he accused his former collaborator of using the project "to deflect continuing charges of antisemitism which have dogged you, charges which have crippled your career". He also cited occasions upon which Gibson had threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child, Oksana Gregorieva, and accused the film-maker and actor of using offensive terms such as "hebes", "oven-dodgers" and "Jewboys" to describe Jews during their time working together.

"I've come to the conclusion that the reason you won't make The Maccabees is the ugliest possible one. You hate Jews," wrote Eszterhas, who is best known for his screenplay for the 1992 Paul Verhoeven thriller Basic Instinct. "You continually called Jews 'Hebes' and 'oven-dodgers' and 'Jewboys.' It seemed that most times when we discussed someone, you asked 'He's a Hebe, isn't he?' You said most 'gatekeepers' of American companies were 'Hebes' who 'controlled their bosses.'"

Eszterhas said Gibson had told him the Holocaust was "mostly a lot of horseshit" and that his intention in making The Maccabees was "to convert the Jews to Christianity". He added: "You said the Torah made reference to the sacrifice of Christian babies and infants. When I told you that you were confusing the Torah with The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, ... you insisted 'it's in the Torah - it's in there!' (It isn't)."

Eszterhas' letter paints a picture of an out-of-control Gibson who might well be a danger to his enemies. "You were raving at Oksana even after you'd reached a custody agreement over [your daughter] Luci," he wrote. "And then you were even more explicit about your threat: 'I'm going to kill her! I'm going to have her killed!'. You said you'd become friends with two FBI agents (or former FBI agents) and they were going to help you to kill her."

Eszterhas's letter was first published by film industry website The Wrap. In response, Gibson issued a statement via rival blog Deadline in which he accused the screenwriter of delivering a substandard screenplay and said "the great majority" of the accusations made against him were "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," wrote Gibson. "I guess you only had a problem with me after Warner Brothers rejected your script.

"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 eight years ago," he continued. "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."

However Gibson did admit to a "passionate" altercation with Eszterhas, following which he said he had made a written apology. "Let me now clearly apologise to you and your family in the simplest of terms," he added.

Judah Maccabee was the prime mover in the successful 167BC revolt of the Judean state against the Seleucid empire, which had conquered the region at the beginning of the 2nd century BC. The Jewish festival of Hanukkah is a commemoration of Maccabee's restoration of Jewish worship in the temple in Jerusalem in 165BC. In the modern era, Maccabee became a powerful symbolic figure for Zionist campaigners against the British authorities in the run-up to Israeli statehood in 1948.

Gibson's interest in filming The Maccabees was greeted with dismay by Jewish community leaders last year. The actor and film-maker was arrested in 2006 for drink driving and an antisemitic outburst, and has also received criticism for what many complained was the dubious depiction of Jewish figures in his 2004 film The Passion of the Christ.