Timur Bekmambetov To Bring New ‘Ben Hur’ To The Screen?

Some breaking news for you now coming as an exclusive from the guys at Deadline. The blog is reporting that NIGHT WATCH director Timur Bekmambetov is looking to bring an new version of the classic BEN HUR to the screen.

Sources at the site suggest that Bekmambetov is in talks to direct an update of the 1880 Lew Wallace novel Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ over at MGM. The novel was previously adapted into a movie in 1959 which starred Charlton Heston.

A spec-script by Keith Clarke (THE WAY BACK), is in the hands of the studio, which according to Deadline,  is faithful to the book, but is very different to the 1959 William Wyler film that focused on the adult blood feud between Judah Ben-Hur (Heston) and Messala (Stephen Boyd).

This film will tell the formative story of the characters as they grew up best friends before the Roman Empire took control of Jerusalem.

We’ll bring you more news on this breaking story as we get it.

Source: Deadline