Jack Huston Starring in 'Ben-Hur'

Jack Huston is set to lead MGM and Paramount's upcoming Ben-Hur, the actor will star in the film as the title character and joins Morgan Freeman as Ildarin, who trains Ben-Hur taking him from slave to champion chariot racer, other main character Messala is still to be cast.

Deadline reported that Huston has landed the leading role to the film which is said to be a new adaptation to the 1880 novel by Lew Wallace instead of just a remake of the classic 1959 film directed by William Wyler which won 11 Academy Awards including Best Actor that went to Charlton Heston. The new Ben-Hur will be directed by Timur Bekmambetov with the script written by Keith Clarke and rewrites by John Ridley, the film will begin shooting in Europe next year and is set to be released on February 26th, 2016.