Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ underground church. It will survive through the ages and comes to be known as the Catacomb of Callixtus. "Ben-Hur" is the romantic story of a fictional nobleman named Judah Ben-Hur, who tries to save his family from misfortune and restore honor to the family name, while earning the love of a modest female Jew named Esther. It is also a tale of vengeance and spiritual forgiveness that includes themes of Christian redemption and God's benevolence through the compassion of strangers. A popular theme with readers during Gilded Age America, when the novel was first published, was the idea of achieving
Ben-Hur (2016 film) them free. Despite his anger, Messala finds the strength to forgive Ben-Hur and is reconciled with him and his family. Together, Ben-Hur, his mother, sister, Esther, and Messala accompany Sheik Ilderim's caravan as they leave Jerusalem. In 2013, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired Keith R. Clarke's script, an adaptation of Lew Wallace's 1880 novel "", which is in the public domain. In April 2014, Paramount Pictures and MGM announced that they would co-produce a new version of "Ben-Hur", based on the novel, with Mark Burnett and Roma Downey serving as producer and executive producer, respectively. MGM had previously released two films based on