‘Ben-Hur’ Remake Updates: Box Office Tracking Projects $14 Million-$15 Million Earnings on Opening Weekend Against $100 Million Budget

‘Ben-Hur’ is predicted to open to only $14 million-$15 million on its opening weekend from August 19 to 21. The film is reportedly produced with a $100 million budget.

According to Business Insider, early box office tracking suggested that Timur Bekmambetov’s upcoming live-action adaptation of the Lew Wallace’s novel ‘Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ’ will open to $14 million to $15 million at the domestic box office over the August 19-21 weekend. The projected earnings reportedly spell a big-budget disaster for the remake since it apparently cost $100 million to produce.

Metro-Goldyn-Meyer and Paramount Pictures only have a couple of weeks left to focus on their final marketing push. According to Yahoo! Movies, Bekmambetov’s version will not be a direct adaptation of the 1959 film helmed by William Wyler starring Charlton Heston in the lead role. Instead, it will be a reimagining of Wallace’s novel.

It was suggested that the film’s main target market will be faith-based audiences. Executive producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey are active Christians and helped produce other faith-based projects such as ‘Son of God’ and the miniseries ‘The Bible’.

According to News Max, Burnett described the new film, "At its essence, Ben-Hur is a story of forgiveness with an underlying story of Jesus."

Chris Stone, founder of Christian organization Faith Driven Consumer, said that the film would herald a new era of other faith-based films. He said, "This is a critical picture… Christians are suspect of Hollywood, and Hollywood is suspect of them…. Christians are feeling disenfranchised so it's an important time for a story that deals with that."

Jack Huston of ‘Boardwalk Empire’ fame is set to portray Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince who is betrayed by his adoptive brother and sentenced to a life of slavery. He spends the next years of his life on a Roman slave ship but later challenges the Roman Empire in a grand chariot race. However, his life is changed forever after a series of encounters with Jesus Christ.

Other members of the cast include Morgan Freeman as Sheik Ilderim, Toby Kebbell as Messala, Nazanin Boniadi as Esther, and Rodrigo Santoro as Jesus.

‘Ben-Hur’ is an upcoming epic historical drama film scheduled to be released on August 19, 2016. It is produced under Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer, Paramount Pictures, LightWorkers Media, and Sean Daniel Company.