Mark Burnett has signed on as a producer and Roma Downey as an executive producer to the Ben-Hur remake set up at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Paramount Pictures. Burnett and Downey are the producing team behind the History Channel’s The Bible series and the feature film, Son of God. Wanted‘s director Timur Bekmambetov is attached to helm the new Ben-Hur movie based on Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ by Lew Wallace. Keith Clarke (The Way Back) wrote the screenplay with John Ridley (12 Years a Slave) handling revisions.
The behind-the-scenes team also includes Sean Daniel and Joni Levin as producers, and Ridley, Clarke, and Jason F. Brown as executive producers.
“We are thrilled to have Mark and Roma join the production team to bring such an indelible classic story to the big screen,” stated Gary Barber, MGM’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “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 Downey and 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.”
The Plot:
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.
Ben-Hur will open in theaters on February 26, 2016.
Source: MGM and Paramount Pictures
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