3/14/2016
First Look At Jack Huston And Morgan Freeman In The 'Ben-Hur' Remake
“When someone says Ben-Hur, you think of chariots. Just instantly, it’s in your brain", says Ben-Hur star Jack Huston to USA Today. But people also think "classic", and remakes of classic films are rarely met with open arms. But Huston wants people to know that he and director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) have every intention of doing justice to the Biblical story and Charleston Heston's performance in the 1959 film...
“There’s something really beautiful about it, especially in the current climate of the world, about different religions and people being at odds against each other. How do we find our way out of this, how do we forgive, how do we forget, how do we move on, how should we treat our fellow human?” He adds, “I hope people will go into this with a very open mind and realize the beauty’s very much in the story.”
The first images from the remake have debuted, and naturally one of them is from that chariot race, which Bekmambetov calls the "crown jewel" of the film. Huston plays the titular prince in Roman-occupied Jerusalem, who is betrayed by his best friend (Toby Kebbell) and thrown into slavery. Morgan Freeman plays Ben-Hur's mentor, with Rodrigo Santoro as Jesus, and supporting roles for Nazanin Boniadi, Pilou Asbæk, Moises Arias, Ayelet Zurer, and Sofia Black D'Elia.
Ben-Hur opens August 12th.