There's a double dose of offerings from the new version of Ben-Hur today - first up, take a look at the new trailer, which pushes both the vengeance angle and the Christian story of sacrifice present in the narrative.
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov, this latest Ben-Hur pledges to skirt closer to Wallace's book than the 1959 film. It'll chronicle the younger days of Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) and Messala (Toby Kebbell), best friends growing up in Jerusalem. Ben-Hur is a Jewish prince and Messala the son of a Roman tax collector who is packed off to be educated in Rome for five years. Upon his return, Messala mocks our hero for his religion and, after an accident he pins on his friend, has him sold into slavery. Cue a quest for revenge that includes the chariot race made iconic by the Heston film.
Talking of the latter, you might have seen our interview in the magazine with the director and Huston about shooting the races, and below you can see how much real work went into the set-pieces. Which now makes us think the Humane Association was keeping a beady eye on the treatment of the horses...
Morgan Freeman is Ildarin, the man who teaches our lead how to be a master at the reins for the races, while Nazanin Boniadi is Esther, Rodrigo Santoro is Jesus and Pilou Asbaek is Pontius Pilate. Ben-Hur is out in the UK on August 26.