Charlton Heston will reprise his role of "Ben Hur" for an upcoming remake of the movie, reports Variety
But instead of the months of work he put in on the first one in 1959, his role this time required only a couple days in a recording studio and no elaborate makeup or costuming. That's because the 77-year-old actor is reprising one of his most famous roles for an animated version of the story.
"You don't often get a chance to do the same thing twice," said Heston, who also appeared in last year's remake of another of his most famous films, "Planet of the Apes."
Fraser C. Heston, Heston's son, will produce-direct-write "Ben Hur."
Stronach says the new movie marries traditional animation with about 150 scenes using 3-D CGI backgrounds and props, including the obligatory centerpiece chariot race. Animation, which has been in production since January, is expected to be completed in August.
Heston also narrates the film, but this is no one-man show. In fact, with more than 100 speaking parts, the new Ben Hur is something of an epic itself. It is being produced in widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio and 5.1 Surroundsound.
Although at 97 minutes the animated film is about two hours shorter than the 1959 edition, Fraser Heston says the all-new script, supervised by Jerome Gary and written by newcomer Avi Estrin, is the most faithful adaptation of the original novel by Lew Wallace and leaves out little of significance from the 1959 epic.
One thing that is left out is the birth of Jesus, but a scene is added in the Garden of Gethsemane. Unlike other Biblically themed animated features such as "The Prince of Egypt" or the Video Premiere Award-winning "Joseph: King of Dreams," "Ben Hur" is not a musical. It also has no comic relief characters.
Although there was an intentional effort to downplay some of the Biblical elements included in the 1959 edition, Fraser Heston said, "It's foolish to deny there is a large Christian audience. But the message of faith and love and forgiveness is one that anyone of any faith should relate to."
A feature-length video premiere movie tentatively set to be released in September or October.