Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman First Actor To Be Cast For 'Ben-Hur' Reuters

Morgan Freeman is the first actor to be cast for the new version of the film classic "Ben-Hur" being readied by MGM and Paramount Pictures, the entertainment blog Deadline Hollywood reported. 

Freeman, 77, will appear in the role of Ildarin, the man who teaches the slave Ben-Hur all he needs to know to become a champion chariot racer.

The shoot of the movie, directed by Timur Bekmambetov ("Wanted"), is expected to kick off early next year in Europe.

The studios are close to announcing the names of the actors who will play the leading character and his treacherous enemy, Messala. According to the online publication, Britain's Tom Hiddleston has been contacted as a possibility for one of those roles.

Based on the 1880 novel by Lew Wallace, "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ," with a screenplay by Keith Clarke ("The Way Back") and a rewrite by John Ridley ("12 Years a Slave"), the movie will premiere in movie theaters in February 2016.

"Right now I can only say it will be epic and deeply moving," Roma Downey, producer of this remake of the monumental 1959 film directed by William Wyler that won 11 Oscars, told Efe last May.

 Wyler's film starred Charlton Heston in his most memorable role, that of a Jewish prince who suffered betrayal by a former Roman friend.


"There are naturally people who will ask why we're meddling with such a beloved and successful film, but there are generations that don't know the story. And today's visual effects allow us to mount it in a way unimaginable 50 years ago," Downey said.

The new movie will be more faithful to the Wallace novel than to the film of the '50s, focusing on the nature of faith through the relationship between Ben-Hur and Messala, childhood friends who become sworn enemies as adults in the time of Jesus of Nazareth.

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