Ben-Hur (2016 film)

This article is about the film starring Jack Huston. For other uses, see Ben-Hur.

Ben-Hur
Ben-Hur riding on a chariot in a stadium, rivaling his brother, with the slogan "Brother Against Brother. Slave Against Empire."
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTimur Bekmambetov
Screenplay by
Based onBen-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1880 novel
by General Lew Wallace
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyOliver Wood
Edited byDody Dorn
Music byMarco Beltrami
Production
companies
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release dates
  • August 9, 2016 (2016-08-09) (Mexico City)
  • August 19, 2016 (2016-08-19) (United States)
Running time
125 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • Italy[1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$100–110 million[2][3]
Box office$94.1 million[4]

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.[5][6] 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.[7] 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.[8][9]

  1. ^ "Ben-Hur (2016)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference budget was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Pamela McClintock; Mia Galuppo (September 8, 2016). "'Ben Hur' to 'BFG': Hollywood's Biggest Box-Office Bombs of 2016". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media, LLC. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  4. ^ "Ben-Hur (2016)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Archived from the original on September 30, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference TA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYTimes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Ben-Hur". imax.com. IMAX Corporation. June 23, 2016. Archived from the original on July 5, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference VSS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference SM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).