California: Paramount and MGM, who worked together on the forthcoming Hercules, will work together to remake Ben-Hur.
Paramount will co-produce and distribute MGM’s upcoming remake of Ben-Hur.
Timur Bekmambetov (“Wanted”) will direct the project based on a script by Oscar-winning “12 Years a Slave” writer John Ridley and Keith Clarke, who sold the original spec to MGM.
Paramount and MGM did not comment.
The movie is based on Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel “Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ,” and traces the story of a falsely accused nobleman who survives years of slavery to avenge the betrayal by his best friend.
Besides “Ben-Hur” and the upcoming “Hercules” starring Dwayne Johnson, MGM and Paramount will also co-produce the sequel to “Hot Tub Time Machine,” which opens on Christmas Day.
MGM and Paramount had earlier worked together for the release of “GI Joe: Retaliation” and “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.”
Sean Daniel and Joni Levin will produce the new “Ben-Hur” with Clarke and Jason Brown as executive producer.
