Ben-Hur (2016 film)

''Ben-Hur'' is a 2016 epic historical drama film directed by Timur Bekmambetov and written by Keith Clarke and John Ridley. It is the fifth film adaptation of the 1880 novel '' Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ'' by Lew Wallace following the 1907 silent short film, the 1925 silent film, the Academy Award-winning 1959 film and the 2003 animated film; it is the third version produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It has been termed a "re-adaptation", "reimagining", and "new interpretation" of the novel, and follows Judah Ben-Hur, a young prince who is falsely accused by his step-brother, an officer of the Roman army, and is sent to slavery, only to escape and seek vengeance. The film stars Jack Huston as the titular character, alongside Toby Kebbell, Rodrigo Santoro, Nazanin Boniadi, Ayelet Zurer, and Morgan Freeman. Principal photography began on February 2, 2015, in Matera, Italy and lasted about five months, finishing in June 2015.

''Ben-Hur'' premiered on August 9, 2016, in Mexico City and was theatrically released by Paramount Pictures on August 19, 2016, in the United States in 2D, 3D, RealD 3D, Digital 3D, and IMAX 3D. It received generally negative reviews and was a box office failure, grossing $94 million worldwide against its $100 million production budget plus a large amount spent on marketing and distribution.

Plot

Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur and his adopted Roman brother Messala are best friends despite their different origins. After Judah's mother resists Messala's interest in her daughter Tirzah, Messala enlists in the Roman army and achieves glory. Ben-Hur eventually marries his slave Esther after Messala leaves. Three years later, Messala returns as a decorated Roman officer. His return coincides with a rising insurrection by the Zealots, Jews opposed to Roman rule. Ben-Hur begrudgingly treats and shelters a young Zealot named Dismas and attempts to dissuade him from the cause. Messala reunites with Ben-Hur and attempts to convince him to serve as an informant - the new governor Pontius Pilate is coming to Jerusalem and Messala does not want any revolt. Judah claims he will talk to the locals.

During Pilate's march, Dismas attempts to assassinate Pilate from Judah's balcony. The Romans storm Ben-Hur's household and arrest him and his family. Rather than betray Dismas, Ben-Hur takes responsibility for the assassination attempt and his mother and sister are sentenced to crucifixion. While being led to the prison galley, Ben-Hur encounters Jesus, who gives him water. Ben-Hur then endures five years of slavery as a rower aboard a Roman prison galley. During a battle against Greek rebels in the Ionian Sea, Ben-Hur's galley is boarded, collides with another ship and is destroyed. Ben-Hur manages to free himself and floats on a ship mast. He is washed ashore and found by Sheik Ilderim, who recognizes him as an escaped slave. Ben-Hur manages to convince Ilderim not to hand him over to the Romans by treating one of Ilderim's racing horses. After Ben-Hur develops a bond with the four racing horses, a grateful Ilderim then trains Ben-Hur to be a chariot racer.

Ben-Hur and Ilderim travel to Jerusalem to take part in a chariot race. Jesus' preaching ministry draws the attention of governor Pilate and Messala, who is now the commander of the Roman garrison and a champion chariot racer. While visiting Jerusalem, Ben-Hur encounters Esther, who has become a follower of Jesus and is involved in charity work. Esther tells Ben-Hur that his mother and sister are dead, and despite their reunion, the two are kept emotionally apart due to her new cause, which is contrary to his insistence on seeking revenge against Messala.

Ben-Hur confronts Messala alone in their former home but is forced to flee when Roman soldiers turn up. After the Romans execute twenty Jews in reprisal, Esther completely falls out with Ben-Hur. Just before the race, Ben-Hur encounters a former Roman soldier named Druses, who informs him that his mother Naomi and sister Tirzah are still alive. However, their reunion is soured when Ben-Hur discovers his mother and sister have leprosy, and Ben-Hur is enraged at their condition.

Ilderim convinces Pilate to allow Ben-Hur to compete by proposing a high wager against Messala. Esther tries to convince Messala not to race Ben-Hur, but he is adamant that he will win. On the day of the race, Ben-Hur follows Ilderim's instructions to hold back from the race until the final laps. Using dirty tactics, Messala manages to knock out the other charioteers. After Messala attempts to destroy Ben-Hur's chariot, their chariots become stuck. When Messala tries to kick Ben-Hur from his chariot, his chariot breaks loose and he is trampled. Judah wins, the Jewish spectators begin attacking the Romans and Judah is carried away.

Despite his victory, Ben-Hur is despondent about his family and Messala's fate. Esther is with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane; later she and Ben-Hur witness Jesus bearing the cross. Mirroring his first encounter with Jesus, Ben-Hur tries to offer Jesus water but is beaten by a Roman soldier. Esther and Judah witness Jesus' death on the cross, Naomi and Tirzah are miraculously healed and Ilderim pays a ransom to set them free. Ben-Hur seeks out an injured Messala who initially swears to continue hunting Judah. After experiencing Judah's kindness and forgiveness, Messala relents and they reconcile. Judah and Messala return to his family who all leave Jerusalem with Ilderim.

Cast

* Jack Huston as Judah Ben-Hur:
:A Jewish prince in Roman-occupied Jerusalem who is betrayed and falsely accused of treason, and is sentenced to a life of slavery. Ben-Hur loses everything and spends five years in the galley of a Roman slave ship. He later takes on the Roman Empire and his adoptive brother, in a grand chariot race, while finding redemption and being forever changed after a series of encounters with Jesus Christ. Charlton Heston's daughter-in-law is a friend of Huston's family, and he met Charlton a few times before he died. "I remember being very struck by the film when I was younger," Huston has said. The leper scene, especially, stuck in his mind. He re-watched the 1959 film prepping for this version. He was initially offered the role of Messala, but director Bekmambetov decided instead he had the sympathetic manner and grit to play the title role. Bekmambetov found Huston to be an actor who not only was a "well-built, experienced horseman" but one who "felt like he was born in that era." He said, "I wouldn't be surprised if some of Jack's many famous ancestors took part in an actual fight between Romans and Judaeans we depict in our film." Tom Hiddleston was originally considered for the role.
:Huston was well aware of the comparisons being made between him and Heston, saying: "Of course there are going to be haters, that's par for the course when you're retelling such an infamous tale. It's like Kenneth Branagh going to do '' Romeo and Juliet'' again for, like, the 50th time. utI think one of the greatest compliments one could ever be giving to uthorLew Wallace is that we're still reimagining his work more than 120 years later, because it's so powerful."
* Toby Kebbell as Messala:
:An officer in the Roman army, and Ben-Hur's childhood friend and adoptive brother, who betrays him.
* Morgan Freeman as Sheik Ilderim:
:A wealthy Nubian sheik who trains Ben-Hur to become a charioteer to take revenge on his brother, Messala. Unlike Wyler's version, who was a secondary character, and an essentially comic one, there is no humor in this version. Moreover, Ilderim "has quite a bit of power in the story. And I like playing power. It's something about my own personal ego", Freeman said. Freeman is part of the international cast in the film. Producer Daniel spoke about that, saying: "the movie business was never as global as it is today, so it makes sense from a creative and commercial point of view to do this movie for the whole world."
* Nazanin Boniadi as Esther:
:A Jewish slave and the wife of Ben-Hur. Boniadi was very pleased by the fact that the women's roles in the film were expanded, unlike the previous versions. She described her character as "very strong-willed and independent", which to her was very refreshing, given the era that this film is set in. She added, "compared to the 1959 film, Esther definitely has more of a presence, she's definitely a stronger woman and a stronger character".
* Rodrigo Santoro as Jesus:
:Unlike the original film, Christ has a prominent role in this version. Paramount Pictures' vice chairman Rob Moore stated that Christ in this version "is going to be consistent with people's expectations," and that the "expectations of the faithful will be honored by this one." This was because Paramount wants to avoid the sort of backlash received by Darren Aronofsky's '' Noah'', because some Christians were dismayed by the film's inventive interpretation of the Bible. Santoro said it was the most challenging role he had ever taken on. He received personal blessings from Pope Francis for his role as Christ.
* Sofia Black-D'Elia as Tirzah:
:Ben-Hur's sister.
* Ayelet Zurer as Naomi:
:Ben-Hur's mother.
* Haluk Bilginer as Simonides:
:A loyal Jewish servant to Ithamar, Judah's birth father; becomes a wealthy merchant in Antioch.
* Moisés Arias as Dismas:
:A teenage Jewish zealot whose family has been murdered by the Romans and is desperate to fight for his people's freedom; he is later crucified beside Jesus.
* Pilou Asbæk as Pontius Pilate:
:The Roman governor of Judea who oversees the chariot race.
* Marwan Kenzari as Druses:
:A Roman captain who is involved with the betrayal by Messala that sends Ben-Hur on his path to redemption.
* James Cosmo as Quintus Arius

Production

Development

In 2013, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired Keith R. Clarke's script, an adaptation of Lew Wallace's 1880 novel '' Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ'', which is in the public domain.

In April 2014, Paramount Pictures and MGM announced that they would co-produce a new version of ''Ben-Hur'', based on the novel, with Mark Burnett and Roma Downey serving as producer and executive producer, respectively. MGM had previously released two films based on the book, the 1925 silent film and the more famous 1959 film of same name. The rights to the latter film were sold to Ted Turner in the 1980s. MGM had just emerged from bankruptcy due to the global success of the twenty-third ''James Bond'' film, ''Skyfall'', and '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'', which both went to gross over $1 billion at the box office worldwide, including above $300 million in the United States and Canada, while Paramount were doing well at the time with the biblical tale '' Noah''. John Ridley (''12 Years a Slave'') was hired to revise the script, with Sean Daniel, Burnett and Joni Levin attached to produce, and Downey, Clarke, and Jason Brown executive producing. Duncan Henderson was later attached to produce, with John Ridley also executive producing. It was announced that the new film would differ from the 1959 version, and deal with the formative relationships of Ben-Hur and Messala growing up as best friends, before the Roman Empire took control of Jerusalem, and that Christ would have a prominent role.

In September 2013, Timur Bekmambetov was hired to direct the film. Bekmambetov was initially reluctant to direct and did not wish to tackle a film whose predecessor had so much impact. After producer Sean Daniel persuaded him to read the script, he accepted it, saying "I read the script. And suddenly I understood this story is not what I expected. It's not a remake, it's an interpretation of the famous book." He stated the story of ''Ben-Hur'' reminded him of '' Romeo and Juliet'', ''Hamlet'', and Anton Chekhov's work. He was fascinated by the 1959 film but found the focus on revenge rather than forgiveness to be the main problem; this was the prime difference between the book and the 1959 movie: the book was written about forgiveness, and the movie was about revenge and miracles. Hence, he wanted to stress the themes of forgiveness and love rather than mere vengeance. He found "the most important values of pride, rivalry, power, strength, the dictatorship of power and self-love" that were prominent in the Roman Empire to be the primary subjects in this version. He said that the film is not just the story of Ben-Hur, but rather the shared story of him and his brother, Messala. Bekmambetov was aware of the comparisons being made with the earlier classical adapted films, and hence felt the need to make the film very different from the others. As a result, he decided to make a realistic drama film rather than a large tent-pole attraction. The director did not set out to make a more stylized version of the past, as he did with '' Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter''; he wanted to make a film that was more grounded and tangible.

Producer Mark Burnett stated that films like ''Ben-Hur'', which are centered on faith and the messages of Jesus Christ, need to feel like epic summer blockbusters in order to attract younger and secular audiences. He explained that part of what caused the immensity of the budget—$100 million—are the special effects and the 3D experience that young audiences are expecting. MGM financed 80% of the production costs, while the remaining 20% were covered by Paramount.

In June 2015, Rob Moore, the vice chairman of Paramount, explained that this version is not so much a remake of the 1959 film, but a new interpretation of the Lew Wallace novel on which both are based.

John Ridley re-wrote the script based on an original screenplay by Keith Clarke, which itself was based on Lew Wallace's 1880 novel '' Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ''. Ridley admired how Clarke went back to the source material and focused his attention on the subjects of racial slavery and colonization, and the deep relationships between the two friends. He was more drawn to the project since it dealt with themes of faith in a very "potent manner". The studio approached him in October 2013, after he wrote the screenplay for ''12 Years a Slave'', which went on to win an Oscar the following year. The studio wanted him to make "a production polish that deals with just honing the story and making it filmable."

Tom Hiddleston was originally considered for the title role, Judah Ben-Hur. Jack Huston was later cast instead. On September 11, Morgan Freeman was added to the cast to play Sheik Ilderim, the man who teaches Ben-Hur to become a champion chariot racer. On September 18, sources confirmed that Toby Kebbell was in early talks to play the villain, Messala. On October 15, Gal Gadot was in talks to join the film as Esther, the slave with whom Ben-Hur is in love. Pedro Pascal from the TV series '' Game of Thrones'' was in talks to play Pontius Pilate. On October 30, TheWrap confirmed that Gadot's negotiations with Paramount and MGM had ended, and the actress had withdrawn, reportedly due to scheduling conflicts with '' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice''. On November 4, Marwan Kenzari was added to the cast as Druses, a Roman captain. On November 11, Ayelet Zurer was in final negotiations to play Naomi, Judah Ben-Hur's mother (Miriam in the book and the 1959 adaptation). On 13 November, Olivia Cooke was being considered for Tirzah, Ben-Hur's sister. On December 2, Nazanin Boniadi was confirmed as the actress who would play Esther. On January 12, 2015, Sofia Black-D'Elia was cast as Ben-Hur's sister, Tirzah. On January 13, Rodrigo Santoro was announced as Jesus. On January 20, Moisés Arias was added to the cast to play Gestas, a teenage Jewish zealot who is desperate to fight for freedom, after his family has been murdered by the Romans. On January 21, Pilou Asbæk was cast as Pontius Pilate, replacing Pascal for the role.

Principal photography

On February 2, 2015, MGM and Paramount Pictures announced that principal photography had begun and that, like the original film, filming would take place mostly in Italy, specifically in Rome and Matera. The Sassi di Matera in Basilicata and the Cinecittà studios in Rome were also chosen among the film's settings. In most instances, CGI were used extensively. However, Bekmambetov wanted to rely more on practical effects and tried to do as little CGI as possible in moments where it was not heavily needed.

Producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett chose Matera as a location for Jerusalem, one of the same locations where Mel Gibson's biblical movie ''The Passion of the Christ'' was filmed. Exterior shooting lasted for two months, and finished in early April 2015. Production then moved to Cinecittà Studios, where interior shooting took place for four months, including the chariot scene, among others. Around 2,000 extras were used throughout the film.

In March 2016, Adam Sidman, an associate of Timur Bekmambetov, sent a request to the Bureau of Land Management's South Coast in Palm Springs, which oversees federal land in the Coachella Valley area, asking if the team can shoot a horse scene in the Painted Canyon, which is off Box Canyon Road, with two horses, several cameras, and a film crew of about 30. His application was rejected, and Sidman thought it was because of the size of the production. He then tried to negotiate again, but to no avail. He then contacted the executive director of the Greater Palm Springs Film Alliance office, Levi Vincent, to look into the matter. To Vincent, it almost seemed like the rejection was based on arbitrary reasons. With the help of local lawmakers, they were able to convinced the BLM to approve the request, but this time with a much-scaled down production of 8 crew members, no horses, and the use of a drone rather than handheld cameras.

Chariot race sequence

The famous chariot race sequence, which runs about 10 minutes, almost exactly the same as in the prior films, was originally planned to be filmed in the Circus Maximus arena in Rome; however, producers were denied access by Italy's national cultural authorities due to fears that the stunts would damage the fragile historic site, which was under restoration at that time. The filming location had been approved by local officials, as well as Rome's mayor, Ignazio Marino, who lamented the decision to deny the producers access, saying, "The aim of the city administration isn't so much to raise revenue in exchange for the use of public space, but to give back to Rome the role of being a big international set, which is in our history and our tradition." According to sources obtained by ''The Guardian'', the decision to forbid ''Ben-Hur'' from filming there was due to "technical" issues. Though no official reasons had been given, archaeological experts speculated that the influx of heavy filming vehicles and hundreds of extras to the arena could have caused untold damage to the site. However, the Italian cultural minister, Dario Franceschini, declined to comment. As a result, producers were forced to film the scene at Cinecittà Studios, where much of the 1959 film was also shot. It is not clear whether the filmmakers had planned to use that location for the main chariot race, which is supposed to take place in Antioch, or if they were planning to shoot one of the earlier races that Judah Ben-Hur takes part in while he is still living in Rome. Bekmambetov, however, cited the size of the stadium as too large for shooting as the reason.

The whole race was planned in advance, in several iterations of storyboards and animated previsualization videos. In order to re-create the sequence, producers and horse race track experts built a 1,000-foot-long arena, with a 250 metre long and 50 metre wide track, stands, and gates, called Circus Tiberius, at Cinecittà World, a film-themed amusement park about 45 minutes south of Rome. It was built partly on the back lot of producer Dino De Laurentiis's former studio complex. According to production designer Naomi Shohan, arena designs were compiled from archaeological records of circuses in Roman territories. One-sixth of the arena was physically built and the rest was added to the film by computer graphics. Unique chariots were also built based on original references. A total of 86 horses were supplied by horse master Steve Dent, with back-up animals, and were trained for several months, to be able to race at 40 miles per hour. Dent has assembled larger stables for films like Ridley Scott's ''Robin Hood'' (2010), but said that "this was more of a worry job." There were 60 handlers for the horses, and 12 horses were put in rotation for every four horse-drawn carriage, so the animals would have a chance to rest. Multiple chariots were made for each character—some with brakes (though the horses are strong enough to overpower the brakes), some with room for a second "blind driver" or 'bonnet-fitted' camera, some with different-sized wheels for filming on the turns instead of the straights, and some to flip over or crash. Massimo Pauletto, an art director on the film who built the chariots, said that his team had to reinvent a forgotten skill, "from the sketches, nobody was understanding how they could become real," and the toughest part was to fit together practical needs and special-effects needs. Problems cropped up day-by-day as the bolts that held the chariots together kept being broken by the horses due to their immense strength, and the bar that attached the horses was bent. As a result, the crew had to learn how to build a new one week after week.

To capture the thunderous feel of the race, the film crew attached microphones to the horses to record the sound of pounding hooves, and GoPro cameras were buried in the sand. The cameras were also planted on chariots and people, one of which was placed on a soccer ball in the middle of the track while the horses ran over it. Huston and Kebbell spent two and a half months preparing and rehearsing to learn how to drive chariot races in Italy, six days a week. It took time for the stuntmen to learn to drive them, and they were only called in for extremely dangerous stunts. But overall, it was actors in the chariots. A total of 20 chariots were used. A bulk of scenes were done using real practical stunts, without any CGI assistance, and digital models were only used when filming was too dangerous. Around 400 extras were used as spectators (which were then increased to around 100,000 with special effects). Bekmambetov's goal was to shoot these action scenes so realistically that the audience feels that they are inside the chariot and driving it. He was inspired by YouTube videos and Instagram photos, "The camerawork is very specific when we see NASCAR or motorbike racing on YouTube. It's either long-lens lose-upcameras, very professional, or it's iPhone cameras from people in the crowd, cars passing by at the speed of light and they barely have a chance to pan and catch something."

Phil Neilson, who served as the stunt coordinator for the film, had previously worked on many films, including Ridley Scott's '' Gladiator''. Jonathan Stamp, a historian who had consulted on the HBO/BBC
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