British actor Toby Kebbell is on a roll as he’s now in talks to play the villainous Messala in MGM and Paramount’s upcoming remake of the award winning 1959 classic which won Charlton Heston an Oscar.
Kebbell delivered a fantastic performance in an episode of Channel 4’s critically acclaimed Black Mirror and found fame in Hollywood after landing roles in Wrath of the Titans and The Counselor. However, he proved that British actors are always the best choice to play villains as motion-capture creation Koba in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. He’ll also suit up next year as the evil Doctor Doom in Josh Trank’s The Fantastic Four.
In Ben-Hur, Kebbell will play Messala, the man that the title character (who will be played by Jack Huston) hopes to take vengeance on after surviving years of slavery because his best friend betrayed him.
Stephen Boyd starred in this role in the original movie. This one will be released on February 26th, 2016 and the script was written by Keith Clarke (The Way Back) before getting a rewrite from John Ridley (12 Years a Slave). It will apparently stick closely to the 1880 Lew Wallace novel Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ.
Who’s directing Ben-Hir? Timur Bekmambetov, of Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter fame.
