5 Reasons Why ‘Ben-Hur’ Bombed

The big-budgeted biblical bio failed to hit the faith-based sweet spot

Paramount and MGM’s big-budget biblical epic “Ben-Hur” crash-landed in theaters this weekend opening to a paltry $11.4 million.

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Timur Bekmambetov‘s remake of the 1959 hit swaps Charlton Heston for Jack Huston as the prince Judah Ben-Hur, who seeks revenge on his adopted brother, a Roman army officer played by Toby Kebbell, after being falsely accused of treason and forced to spend years at sea.

Sure, 1959’s “Ben-Hur” was a monster hit back in the day, the 14th highest-grossing film of all time when adjusted for inflation.

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Yes, the budget was big, but spending $10 million more on a big-name star would have raised the floor on its extremely low opening number.

While “Ben-Hur” does drive home faith-based themes, the movie’s marketing instead revolved around the movie’s climactic chariot race.

With its Affirm Films, the studio released six of the top ten faith-based titles of all time, all with production budgets leaps and bounds lower than $100 million.

Sony and Affirm’s “Heaven is for Real” is No. 2 with $91 million, third place is “War Room” at $67 million, No. 4  is “Miracles From Heaven” with $61 million, No. 7 is “Soul Surfer” with $43 million, No. 9 is “Risen” at $36 million, and  No. 10 is “Courageous” having grossed $34 million.