“If you lose, you die.”;
Morgan Freeman, the age-old voice of wisdom, narrates the first trailer for the chariot-racing epic “Ben-Hur”;. This is definitely “Ben-Hur”; like you’ve never seen him before.
The sword-and-sandal epic is getting a face-lift, thanks to director Timur Bekmambatov, the man behind 2008’s action-packed “Wanted”;. A retelling of the classic tale of a Jewish prince-turned-slave who became a fearsome charioteer, this “Ben-Hur”; will pack a punch, with the trailer promising hand-to-hand combat and impressive special effects.
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Jack Huston stars as Judah Ben-Hur, with Morgan Freeman as Ilderim, the man who schools Ben-Hur in the ways of the chariot. Drawing from the tale’s Biblical roots, Rodrigo Santoro appears in the film as Jesus.
The film is billed as a “re-adaptation”; of Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel which emphasizes the friendship and betrayal of Judah Ben-Hur by his friend Messala, a Roman tax collector. “Fantastic Four”; star Toby Kebbell plays Messala in the film.
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With larger-than-life chariot races that look like they’d be at home in the next “Fast & Furious”; movie, bloody battle scenes, and grandiose betrayals, this certainly isn’t Charlton Heston’s “Ben-Hur”;.
The 1959 classic starring Heston won an astonishing 11 Academy Awards and clocked in at a whopping three-and-a-half hours. While this “Ben-Hur”; might not be as successful during awards season, it’ll definitely make a dent in the summer box office when it opens on August 12.
