First Images From The Ben-Hur Remake

With the upcoming remake of Ben-Hur getting ready to hit theatres this summer, it’s about time we saw something from it. While there is no footage just yet, there are two photos and they show off Jack Huston in action.

The first shot has the Boardwalk Empire star, who’s playing the titular role, chatting with Morgan Freeman’s character, Ilderim, who trains Judah Ben-Hur. The second photo has the prince riding a chariot.  This adaptation will focus more heavily on an earlier part of the story, rather than that which we associate with the 1959 epic. The source is a tale of vengeance and redemption set in parallel with the story of Jesus Christ, but it is also a riveting drama about human relationships. This aspect of the story is most demonstrable early on in the narrative, which is when this new version will supposedly take place.

USA Today are the ones who premiered the photos and when they caught up with Huston, here’s what he had to say about the story at the heart of the movie: “There’s something really beautiful about it, especially in the current climate of the world, about different religions and people being at odds against each other. How do we find our way out of this, how do we forgive, how do we forget, how do we move on, how should we treat our fellow human?”

Speaking about filming the chariot races, the actor added: “You get in with two horses on a chariot, which blows your mind, and then you put four horses on the end of your reins,” Huston recalls. “It would be the equivalent of a Formula 1 race. It’s overwhelming and incredibly scary,” he says. “But after the first day where you think every second, ‘I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die,’ you decide to put that out of your brain for good and it becomes just part of the job”.