Tom Hiddleston Could Be 'Ben-Hur' in Remake

As Loki in Marvel's Thor and Avengers movies Tom Hiddleston has quickly ascended to fan favorite, although he remains something of an unknown quantity as a box office draw. With leading roles in Ben Wheatley's High-Rise and Guillermo Del Toro's Crimson Peak that could change real soon, and if not then strapping into a chariot for the remake of Ben-Hur should do the trick.

MGM and Paramount are eying Hiddleston for the title role in Ben-Hur, an adaptation of Lew Wallace's novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ. Of course most people know the story from the 1959 film starring Charlton Heston in one of his defining performance, but this version is said to hew closer to the book and follow the feud between Judah Ben-Hur and his former best friend Messala, whose betrayal allowed him to be sold into slavery. Oscar-winning writer John Ridley (12 Years a Slave) wrote the most recent script for Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) to direct and Son of God producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey to produce.

No deal is in place yet as Hiddleston is considering other offers from MGM that are on a smaller scale. One of those is Me Before You, which features a script by The Way Back writer Keith Clarke. [Deadline]