{"id":51125,"date":"2016-08-10T10:07:57","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T17:07:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?p=51125"},"modified":"2016-08-10T10:07:57","modified_gmt":"2016-08-10T17:07:57","slug":"watch-a-featurette-on-morgan-freemans-ilderim-in-ben-hur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/08\/watch-a-featurette-on-morgan-freemans-ilderim-in-ben-hur.html","title":{"rendered":"Watch: A featurette on Morgan Freeman’s Ilderim in Ben-Hur<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"benhur2016-morganfreeman\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the promotional hurdles faced by the new Ben-Hur<\/a><\/i> is its relative lack of star power. Nearly everyone in its cast is best known for working on television or for minor roles in other films. The main exception is Morgan Freeman, who plays Ilderim, the sheikh who sponsors Judah Ben-Hur in the film\u2019s climactic chariot race.<\/p>\n

A new featurette takes a closer look at Freeman and his character; among other things, screenwriter John Ridley says making Ilderim \u201ca principal within the storytelling\u201d was in and of itself a sufficient \u201creason to go back and recreate this story\u201d. Here is the featurette, which also has soundbites from Jack Huston, who plays Judah:<\/p>\n