Biblically Epic Movie "Ben Hur" Opens Disappointingly at the Box Office

The Biblical epic movie "Ben-Hur" opens at the Box Office at #6 last weekend.  The movie raked in $11.2 based on domestic figures alone. Considering that the movie cost over $100 million to make, the movie was considered a flop. The original Ben-Hur from 1959 was a bonafide classic, winning a record 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, but it looks like the 2016 re-make still has some ways to go.  

Actress Roma Downey, one of the film's producers, said she felt drained and was seeking God for support amid the disappointment. "Fill me up Lord, I am on empty!" Downey wrote on Facebook Monday night along with the the hashtags "‎give me strength‬, ‪‎praying‬‪, more of you less of me, and ‪I love you Lord."‬

"That's it folks, now it's in Gods hands. We did all we could do to launch 'Ben-Hur.' We fought the good fight, we finished the race, we kept the faith," said one of her many posts during the time the film released. 

Producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey (The Bible) couldn't attract the faith-based audience with the Timur Bekmambetov-directed effort, with Jack Huston in the role made famous by Charlton Heston. Ben-Hur received a lowly 28% critical approval rating on the review aggregation site RottenTomatoes.com, while audiences graded the drama an A-minus at CinemaScore.

The movie revolves around the story of Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) who loses everything after his adopted brother Messala (Toby Kebbell), now an officer in the Roman army, returns to Jerusalem and accuses the young prince of treason. Stripped of his title and separated from his wife (Nazanin Boniadi) and family, Ben-Hur must endure years of slavery on a galley at sea. When fate brings the estranged brothers to an epic and deadly chariot race, Ben-Hur finally gets the chance to exact vengeance on the man who destroyed his life. 

 

 

 

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