Gal Gadot, Pedro Pascal set to join Jack Huston in ‘Ben-Hur’ remake
The remake of the classic film Ben-Hur added a pair of new cast members according to separate reports from THR and Deadline. Gal Gadot and Pedro Pascal appear to be set for the new film, directed by Timur Bekmambetov.
Gadot will play the female lead, a slave girl named Esther, the love interest of Ben-Hur. Pascal will play Pontius Pilate, a role expected to be bigger in the new version of the story than it was in the 1959 film.
“Gadot, who appeared in the Fast & Furious franchise before nabbing the role of Wonder Woman in the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, will also get to lead her own Wonder Woman spin-off movie,” writes THR.
“In Game Of Thrones, Pascal played Oberyn Martell (also called the Red Viper of Dorne), who volunteered to fight a death battle in the arena to win the freedom of accused king killer Tyrion Lannister. The Viper engaged in battle with The Mountain, a brutish warrior who years before had raped and murdered Oberyn’s sister. Oberyn had the brute dead to rights, but got a little careless and too close, and ended up on the wrong end of The Mountain’s crushing grip. But Pascal stayed around long enough to make a strong impression,” Deadline detailed of Pascal.
Boardwalk Empire star Jack Huston is set a the titular lead character with Morgan Freeman as his mentor in chariot-racing, and Toby Kebbell will appear as the villainous Messala.
Directed by Bekmambetov from a script currently being re-written by the Oscar-winning John Ridley, Ben-Hur will film in Europe next year.
Ben-Hur will open in theaters on February 26, 2016.
