ShockYa: David Chase, there’s been a lot of talk in journalism and film criticism and cultural criticism positing the idea that television really is where the creative action and excitement is these days, more than motion pictures. Some writers have specifically said, what’s David Chase doing making a feature film? So how did the evolution of this particular story as a feature film start?
David Chase: Well, I always wanted to be in feature films. I never, and I’ve said this before-I never wanted to be in television. I got to really enjoy my life in television once I got to HBO. I worked with some really talented people before that, but I was very unsatisfied. But making a movie is always what I wanted to do was.
I just really loved that music from era, and when I was doing ‘The Sopranos,’ I liked putting music together with the film. That was my favorite part of it. I thought this would be a way to extend that pleasure, and I guess I also thought you can get that past and get a movie with a score with rock and roll.
EW
Creator David Chase, star Drea de Matteo and others break down the agonizing demise of Adriana la Cerva for the 10th anniversary of the HBO hit’s finale
Joblo
It's a pretty huge task to take on the 1959 classic BEN-HUR starring Chalton Heston, directed by the legendary William Wyler. Yet producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey are bringing us a massive reteling - one that is based heavily on the 1880 book "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ" by Lew Wallace. While both features were adapted from the novel, the latest feature is less about vengence, and more about unity and peace. And considering the director of the new film is Timur Bekmambetov, it's likely you'll be impressed by some of the intense set-pieces.
USA Today
Jack Huston had the same reaction most other cinephiles probably did when hearing of a new Ben-Hur movie: “What?!”
There have been a few film adaptations of Lew Wallace’s 1880 biblical novel over the years, most notably the 1959 historical epic starring Charlton Heston that won 11 Academy Awards. But now that Huston is wearing the sword and sandals of Judah Ben-Hur in a new take arriving in theaters Aug. 12, the British-born actor sees firsthand how its sprawling landscape balances a very personal tale of one man’s journey toward redemption.
