With faith-based movies Hollywood's newest cash cow, it was only a matter of time before somebody got around to remaking Ben-Hur. Was Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) the most likely guy to do it? Probably not, but if you're going to turn Lew Wallace's book into a massive summer blockbuster, he's as good of an option as any. However there doesn't seem to be a lot of buzz for chariot-racing epic, but that could always change with this latest trailer.
The latest trailer comes off a little desperate in trying to appeal to every conceivable audience beyond those looking for a summer spectacle. Jack Huston makes the unlikely lead in this story as Judah Ben-Hur, a prince who is accused of treason by his friend and adopted brother Messala(Toby Kebbell, who is in every movie this summer. I checked.), and is thrown into slavery. Separated from his family and the woman he loves, Ben-Hur spends years at sea, until he returns home seeking vengeance.
Morgan Freeman, Pilou Asbaek, Rodrigo Santoro, Nazanin Boniadi, Moises Arias, Ayelet Zurer, and Sofia Black D’Elia co-star, but it looks like the real star will be the chariot races, which understandably are being pushed as the centerpiece. Along with the trailer you can check out a featurette on how they staged the races to look as they do.
Ben-Hur hits theaters on August 19th.
