Ben-Hur
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Screenwriter: Keith Clarke and John Ridley
Cast: Jack Huston, Morgan Freeman, Toby Kebbell, Nazanin Boniadi, Haluk Bilginer, Rodrigo Santoro.
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Rated PG-13 | 123 minutes
Release Date: August 19, 2016

Since studios are big on remakes that use expensive CGI to achieve looks or stunts that couldn’t have otherwise been achieved when the film was first released, it only made sense that we get a remake for Ben-Hur. But just because it sounds good on paper doesn’t exactly mean that it should be made. Then again, if done well, it could avoid being a complete disaster.

And so that is where the new Ben-Hur from director Timur Bekmambetov finds itself. The film starring Jack Huston as the title character finds itself following other contemporary remakes that just don’t quite measure up to the originals despite their well-intentions to update the age-old story for a modern audience.

Yes. Ben-Hur is indeed another remake in the long line of remakes. The original 1959 film starring Charlton Heston ended up winning 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It may seem difficult to follow that up with a remake of the film, but Timur Bekmambetov‘s telling doesn’t seem to have any intentions of doing that. Instead, Keith Clarke and John Ridley‘s adaptation of the 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace draws inspiration from the previous two big-screen films that came before it, while also being sold as a faith-based film.

We were invited to sit down with a group of journalists to talk to Jack Huston, who plays the title character; Toby Kebbell, who plays Messala, Ben-Hur’s adoptive brother; and Morgan Freeman who plays Sheik Ilderim. The three talked about their experience on the set, the training they went through to prepare for the role, and the hesitations of remaking a classic. Check out the top five things you need to know about the film below.

Paramount Pictures has released the first trailer for Ben-Hur, which is directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch, Wanted, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter).

The movie stars Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), Toby Kebbell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Warcraft), Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption, Se7en), Rodrigo Santoro (300, Love Actually), Nazanin Boniadi (Homeland, The Next Three Days), Ayelet Zurer (Daredevil, Man of Steel), Sofia Black D’Elia (Project Almanac, The Messengers), Pilou Asbæk (The Borgias, Lucy), and James Cosmo (Game of Thrones, Braveheart).

You can read more about Ben-Hur and watch the trailer below.

A pair of actors have entered into negotiations to join Ben-Hur, the latest adaptation of Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The book was of course previously turned into the 1959 classic starring Charlton Heston that went on to win 11 Academy Awards.

It’s being reported that Gal Gadot, who’s best known (though only seen in a single image so far) as the new Wonder Woman for upcoming DC Comics movies beginning with Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Pedro Pascal, who won many fans as Prince Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper of Dorne, on the most recent season of Game of Thrones, are both in talks for the movie. Gadot would play the female lead, Esther, a slave Ben-Hur is in love with. Pascal is up for the role of Pontius Pilate.

MGM and Paramount Pictures have chosen their star for Ben-Hur, the upcoming remake of the 1959 classic of the same name that starred Charlton Heston and was directed by William Wyler and went on to win 11 Academy Awards, including awards for both Heston and Wyler.

Jack Huston, the actor perhaps best known for his work playing Richard Harrow on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, will take on the iconic role. He joins Morgan Freeman, who’s set to play Ildarin.