Jack Huston lands the lead role in the Ben-Hur remake
Brad Sturdivant
September 17th, 2014
I’ve been a big champion of his for a while, even go as far as saying he’s a great candidate to take over the Indiana Jones franchise, but I’m not sure starring in a remake of BEN-HUR is what I had in mind when I was asking for Jack Huston to get a break out role. Best known as Richard Harrow (the guy with half a face) in HBO’s ‘Boardwalk Empire’, Huston has been relegated to small parts in films like KILL YOUR DARLINGS and AMERICAN HUSTLE, but now it looks like he’s ready to lead his own film as he has officially landed the lead role in the BEN-HUR remake.
He joins the film that already has Morgan Freeman, who just recently signed on. The film will be directed by Timur Bekmambetov (WANTED), who will be directing from a script by Keith Clarke. Oscar winner John Ridley also made some touch-ups to the script, which is said to follow the original Lew Wallace novel more closely than the Charlton Heston film. Of course, the original novel was written in 1880, so I’m not sure it’s such a good thing they’re following it close. In general, I’m not really against remakes and anyone that has seen the 1959 BEN-HUR recently knows it’s a little dated, so remaking it isn’t a terrible idea. And if it launches Jack Huston into superstardom and he gets more roles, I’m all for it. (Deadline)
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