Ben-Hur

And thus the 2016 summer movie season ended in a manner that reflected these past few months as a whole :  with a whimper. Despite three new releases, the rapidly tumbling Suicide Squad clung to the top spot, with last week’s runner-up, the raunchy animated film Sausage Party, once again coming in second place. It was a tough weekend for War Dogs, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Ben-Hur, each of which limped into the top 10 with unspectacular numbers.

We've been hearing buzz about some of Paramount's major plans for a while now, but the studio finally confirmed their 2016 release line-up recently at CineEurope (the European version of CinemaCon, a major theater convention), and included on the list are lots of sequels, like 'Beverly Hills Cop 4,' 'Transformers 5,' and -- wait, what's this? -- 'Paranormal Activity 5,' which has been bumped back once again.

By the end of the 1950's, the studio system had been rocked by television, and MGM was on the ropes fiscally. They put a lot of stock in 1959's 'Ben-Hur,' which paid off big time. 'Ben-Hur' became one of their biggest hits (adjusted for inflation it's number thirteen on the all time list), and won eleven Oscars. Now that MGM is successful after 'Skyfall,' they're going to return to 'Ben-Hur' and r