Judah Ben-Hur Judah Ben-Hur Judah Ben-Hur, or just Ben-Hur, is a fictional character and the title character from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel "". The book covers the character's adventures and struggle against the Roman Empire as he tries to restore honour to his family's name after being falsely accused of attacking the Roman governor. Judah encounters Jesus Christ and becomes a Christian. Wallace wrote that he chose the name Ben-Hur "because it was biblical, and easily spelled, printed and pronounced." The name appears once in the Bible (), as the name of one of King Solomon's twelve district governors (1 Kings 4:8).
Ben-Hur (2016 film) Burnett and Joni Levin attached to produce, and Downey, Clarke, and Jason Brown executive producing. Duncan Henderson was later attached to produce, with John Ridley also executive producing. It was announced that the new film would differ from the 1959 version, and deal with the formative relationships of Ben-Hur and Messala growing up as best friends, before the Roman Empire took control of Jerusalem, and that Christ would have a prominent role. In September 2013, Timur Bekmambetov was hired to direct the film. Bekmambetov was initially reluctant to direct and did not wish to tackle a film whose predecessor had