Judah Ben-Hur Actor. Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster and Rock Hudson turned down the role before Heston accepted it. In this version Ben-Hur becomes a Christian at the Crucifixion of Christ; whereas in the book Ben-Hur becomes a Christian earlier. Ben-Hur is given a more somewhat bitter personality; Balthazar, one of the three wise men having witnessed the birth of Christ begs him to listen to the teachings of Jesus but Judah rebuffs him saying that he has business with Rome. Blaming Rome for destroying the once good Messala (prior to his corruption) and what has happened to his family Judah refuses to
Production of Ben-Hur (1959 film) decisions forcing film studios to divest themselves of theater chains and the competitive pressure of television had caused significant financial distress at MGM. In a gamble to save the studio, and inspired by the success of Paramount Pictures' 1956 Biblical epic "The Ten Commandments", studio head Joseph Vogel announced in 1957 that MGM would again move forward on a remake of "Ben-Hur". Filming started in May 1958 and wrapped in January 1959, and post-production took six months. Although the budget for "Ben-Hur" was initially $7 million, it was reported to be $10 million by February 1958, reaching $15 million by