Lew Wallace's novel "Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ" is the story of "a falsely accused nobleman who survives years of slavery to take vengeance on his best friend who betrayed him. Both must come to choose between retribution or forgiveness." The story follows the life of Judah Ben Hur in parallel to that of Jesus Christ, so the choice of producers confirms initial reports that the remake will be a more faith-driven film than the original 1959 adaptation. For those unfamiliar with the 1959 film, it was directed by William Wyler, it starred Charlton Heston and won 11 Academy Awards, a record that went unchallanged until it was matched by "Titanic" in 1998 and "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" in 2004.
For more information, read the full press release after the jump.
"HOLLYWOOD, CA (April 25, 2014) – Mark Burnett and Roma Downey (Son of God) have joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Paramount Pictures’ Ben-Hur, it was announced today by Gary Barber, MGM’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Paramount Pictures. The studios will co-produce the film, which is set for release on February 26, 2016. Burnett joins producers Sean Daniel (The Mummy Franchise) and Joni Levin (The Way Back), while Downey joins as an executive producer.
Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) will direct the film. The screenplay, originally written by Keith Clarke (The Way Back), with revisions by Academy Award®-winner John Ridley (12 Years A Slave), is based on Lew Wallace’s 1880 epic novel Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ. Downey (The Bible) and John Ridley will serve as executive producers along with Keith Clarke and Jason F. Brown.
The film returns to the heart of Lew Wallace’s epic novel focusing on the nature of faith. The story follows a falsely accused nobleman who survives years of slavery to take vengeance on his best friend who betrayed him. Both must come to choose between retribution or forgiveness.
“We are thrilled to have Mark and Roma join the production team to bring such an indelible classic story to the big screen,” said Barber. “Their unrivaled passion, creativity and success in the faith based content space, will be a huge asset to the film and we look forward to working together.”
“A timeless film of this scale and scope requires an incredibly dedicated team of filmmakers and the opportunity to have visionary talents like Mark and Roma be a part of the making of the film, and knowing their incredible dedication to their own faith, made them the ideal partners to help bring this story authentically to life,” said Rob Moore, Vice Chairman Paramount Pictures.
“What an honor it will be to help bring this epic film back to the big screen” said producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett. “When Gary Barber allowed us to read John Ridley’s amazing script, we immediately knew we had to join this team. We are thrilled to be ablework with Timur, Sean, John and the entire MGM and Paramount teams. General Lew Wallace’s Ben-Hur is one of the most important Christian works of fiction ever written and this script is astounding. It will be the most anticipated movie release of 2016.” MGM will handle production with Jonathan Glickman, President, Motion Picture Group and Matt Dines, Vice President, Production, overseeing the project on behalf of the studio. The film will be distributed worldwide by Paramount Pictures, with select international territories as well as all television distribution to be handled by MGM.
“It is an honor for us to be making a film based on such an epic story whose themes still clearly resonate,” said Glickman. “Together with our partners at Paramount, and this dream team of accomplished filmmakers, we are excited to introduce Ben-Hur to a new generation.” Together Downey and Burnett were executive producers of The Bible series, which became the number one cable show for The History Channel of 2013. In February 2014, 20th Century Fox released the feature film version Son of God. The project entailed extensive outreach to the faith communities and consultation with biblical experts, to strong effect. ADL National Director Abraham Foxman declared “Son of God is the most sensitive depiction of the story of Jesus that I have ever seen or probably will eversee.” Downey and Burnett are currently producing A.D. a new drama series for NBC and The Dovekeepers a four-hour miniseries on the story of Masada for CBS, both set to air in 2015.
MGM and Paramount are currently partnered on the upcoming Hercules, releasing July 25 as well as the sequel to Hot Tub Time Machine, releasing Christmas day. The studios previously teamed up on the release of GI Joe: Retaliation and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters."
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