Charlton Heston to play Ben Hur again

Charlton Heston is to provide the voice of Ben Hur in a new animated version of the classic film.

The new version of the 1959 movie will be released on video in America later in the year.

Heston also introduces the film in a live-action video recording.

"You don't often get a chance to do the same thing twice," he told www.variety.com.

The animated Ben Hur appears looking like "the archetypal Charlton Heston," according to the actor's son Fraser C Heston, who is the film's producer, director and writer.