CHICAGO - It all started about seven years ago when actor Morgan Freeman visited the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

Noticing the mosaics of Jesus inside the museum, Freeman asked his tour guide, who was Muslim, if the tiles had been covered over when the building, originally a Greek Orthodox church, was used as a mosque.

NEW YORK - The horses have been harnessed and the chariot wheels greased for the new take on the classic film Ben-Hur that will roll into cinemas early next year.