Update: Deadline have confirmed a deal has closed for Bekmambetov to helm the project. Check out the original story below.
After you’ve finished drooling over this year’s NYFF lineup, stick around to read about one sure candidate for the festival’s 2015 slate. According to Deadline, Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter director Timur Bekmambetov (it’s at this point when you fully realize I had been joking) is tentatively eyeing MGM’s remake of Ben-Hur — as with the 1925 silent epic and a better-known, Charlton Heston-led iteration, itself an adaptation of Lew Wallace‘s novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.
On spec, screenwriter Keith Clarke (The Way Back) penned an update which, for the most part, sounds familiar to those who’ve previously seen the tale brought to life. While, yes, there’s said to be some additional focus on “the formative story” of Judah Ben-Hur and his then-friend, Messala, Deadline’s description soon goes into the typical: Ben-Hur is sold into slavery by his pal, since-corrupted by the Romans; Ben-Hur is given the chance to fight as a gladiator, and soon engages in chariot races; etc. But, (somewhat) interestingly enough, Bekmambetov — should he sign on, depending on that not-yet-sealed deal — would, too, focus on the ascendancy and eventual crucifixion of Jesus, reportedly given to us, now, as a “parallel tale.”
That side of the narrative coin is… intriguing, admittedly, no matter how prematurely off-putting the notion of a CG-reliant action director updating an Old Hollywood classic may sound. (This is not even to mention the participation of Sean Daniel, a producer behind the Mummy franchise and Universal’s Wolfman reboot; consider The Way Back‘s Joni Levin a counter-balance of its own.) Again, though, Bekmambetov isn’t yet secured for the job; it could always fall to the wayside if he declines and, thereafter, no one else is immediately available — which, really, would not be so unfortunate. But the simple potential, be it for a good or bad product, is somewhat undeniable.
What do you think of Timur Bekmambetov’s Ben-Hur? Can you process the thought?