Ben-Hur to be remade as a mini-series
There should be a moratorium on remakes. They rarely work, and in some cases, they are just ill-conceived from step one. That’s how I feel about this news: they’re remaking Ben-Hur as a television mini-series. I’m not saying this because actor Charlton Heston has just died and this was his movie and, therefore, it should be sacrosanct. No, not at all. If someone has the urge to remake almost any other Heston film — Soylent Green, Diamond Head, The Pigeon That Took Rome — go for it. But leave Ben-Hur alone. You’d think the disastrous remake of The Ten Commandments on ABC last year would have been a lesson. I guess not.
Oh, well. The news here is that it’s David Wyler, the son of director William Wyler, who is behind this remake. Willie Wyler directed the 1959 version with Charlton Heston in the title role. That film was a huge undertaking and a phenomenal success. It saved MGM studios which was on the verge of going under. The movie won 11 Academy Awards (it only lost in screenplay adaptation). Any mini-series will be hard pressed to meet that level of quality and execution. There was also a famous 1925 silent version.
According to Variety, David Wyler’s $30 million production will be more faithful to the original Lew Wallace novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, which was written in 1880. It’s the story of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince who’s betrayed by his Roman best friend and forced into slavery. He later saves the life of his captor and is rewarded with his freedom. He resumes his former life, but is bitter. In time, he is converted along with many others to the ways of new prophet, Jesus Christ. “We’ve got a joke that this is the family business,” Wyler said as a news conference in Cannes. “In my mind this is dedicated to my dad and Chuck (Heston). We think it’s a great way to keep his memory alive.”
There’s no word on which network will broadcast the mini-series. It will be filmed using international crews and instead of casting an actor like Heston as Judah, who was 34 when the film was made, the producer is talking about hiring an actor in his 20s. “It’s been 50 years since my father’s version, and we think we can bring something new and contemporary to it in the same way that Gladiator did for that genre,” Wyler said.
Call me cynical, but Gladiator to me is code for CG effects. Well, that will make it a lot easier to film the chariot race. Easier, but not necessarily better. We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, if you want to see William Wyler and Charlton Heston’s version of Ben-Hur, it’s on TCM this Friday night, April 11th 9 p.m. EST. Set your DVR and watch it in widescreen as it was meant to be shown on TV. The chariot race is classic.
Stupid Movie Executive Quote of the Day
“We’re Not Looking For Home Runs”
- Tom Bernard, Co-President of Sony Pictures Classics (aka Where Good Films Go to Die) [indiewire]
Smart Movie Executive Quote of the Day
“When you have a quality film of this caliber made by amazingly talented filmmakers and actors who truly believe and support a project, you can only succeed. We knew [Juno] had cross over potential and it has resonated with audiences all across the country. The entire marketing, distribution and publicity team has poured its heart and soul into making this a phenomenal success and their efforts have been truly remarkable.”
- Peter Rice, Fox Searchlight President
The Overall Difference
- Sony Pictures Classics - 23 Film Releases in 2007 - $39 million
- Fox Searchlight - 15 Film Releases in 2007 - $130.8 million
Juno Crosses $100 Million Dollar Mark
The little film that could has now crossed the $100 million dollar mark, and is now the sixth biggest platform release of all time. Congratulations to Fox Searchlight, Diablo, Jason, Ellen, Olivia, and all the rest of the people who made this film. Check out the full press release.
FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES “JUNO” CROSSES
$100 MILLION DOLLAR MARK
LOS ANGELES, CA January 31, 2008 – Fox Searchlight Pictures President Peter Rice announced today that four time Oscar® nominee including Best Picture and critic’s darling JUNO has made box-office history by becoming the first film released by Fox Searchlight to cross the coveted $100 million mark in theatrical box-office grosses eclipsing the previous record of $71.5 million set by SIDEWAYS in 2004.
“This is an astonishing feat for us and the film has surpassed all our expectations. When you have a quality film of this caliber made by amazingly talented filmmakers and actors who truly believe and support a project, you can only succeed,” said Rice. “We knew this film had cross over potential and it has resonated with audiences all across the country. The entire marketing, distribution and publicity team has poured its heart and soul into making this a phenomenal success and their efforts have been truly remarkable.”
JUNO milestones set by the film since its release December 14th are as follows:
· JUNO is the 6th highest grossing platform release of all time
· JUNO is the highest grossing platform release since BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING in 2002
· JUNO has crossed the $100 million mark in just 8 weeks of release, 2nd only to THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT for a limited release film.
· JUNO is Searchlight’s widest platform release in its history and its 3rd widest release of any film (wide or limited) in company history at 2,534 locations (Wk #7) behind BANGER SISTERS (2,738 locations) and THE HILLS HAVE EYES (2,621 locations).
· JUNO has been on the Top 10 grosses list for six consecutive weekends and all weekends of 2008.
· JUNO is on over 175 Top Ten lists.
· JUNO has received numerous guild nominations including WGA, SAG, PGA, ACE and CDG.
Fox Searchlight Pictures is a specialty film company that both finances and acquires motion pictures. It has its own marketing and distribution operations, and its films are distributed internationally by Twentieth Century Fox. Fox Searchlight Pictures is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group.