June
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Hardwicke, Hirsch Take On Hamlet
While the script isn't even finished yet, Overture is announcing that it has attached Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke and Into the Wild star Emile Hirsch for a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Ron Nyswaner (The Painted Veil) is writing. Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen (American Beauty, Milk, Pushing Daisies) are producing. Hamlet has inspired over 40 movies; the melancholy Dane has been played by Sir Laurence Olivier (Oscar winner in 1948), Mel Gibson (directed by Franco Zeffirelli), Kenneth Branagh (full-length) and Ethan Hawke (as a Manhattan film student), among others.
During production on Milk, Hirsch went to Jinks and Cohen with the idea of playing a modern-day Hamlet who is trying to decide whether to take revenge on his father’s death by the hand of his uncle. In a joint statement, Jinks and Cohen explain:
"Hamlet was in college when the story takes place, yet there hasn't been a movie version with an appropriately-aged actor playing the role. Our goal is to present the story as a suspense thriller. We want to make it exciting and accessible for an audience today.”
Hirsch also approached Hardwicke, with whom he had worked on Lords of Dogtown. “I was intrigued," she said. "We read the play aloud and when I heard Emile speaking Shakespeare's amazing words, I was flooded with images. We edited the play tightly, making the words extremely accessible. In our version, we're working hard to make ‘Hamlet’ a thrilling cinematic experience -- the violent, intense, and romantic scenes that happen ‘off-stage’ in the play will be shown in vivid detail.”
What Hardwicke brings to a movie is the youthful intensity and identification she delivered in Thirteen and Twilight. Overture plans to start shooting as soon as they approve a finished script. The company could use a hit; one hopes that Chris McGurk and Danny Rosett did not overpay for this, which has the elements of a smart-house movie that will need extraordinary execution to be broadly commercial. This could be a make-or-break project for Hirsch, who shows great promise. Last summer's Speed Racer was a bomb, but he scored in a supporting part in the Oscar-winning Milk, and also plays a small role in Ang Lee's upcoming Taking Woodstock, which did not play well in Cannes.
Who should play Gertrude? Glenn Close (whoops, she starred in Zeffirelli's version)? Meryl Streep? Susan Sarandon? Angelica Huston? And Ophelia? Olivia Thirlby? Ellen Page? Anna Paquin?
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This is excellent. Hamlet is my favourite Shakespeare play, and i like Hardwicke's directing style in Lords of Dogtown. I'm definitely excited for this.
Posted by: Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist! | June 02, 2009 at 05:44 PM
I hope it's funny (or is leavened with some wit). I saw Mark Rylance's Hamlet at London's Barbican in late 80s. It was hilarious as well as tragic, dramatic, poetic, sublime. Shakespeare was funny. Great dramas, great thrillers, need a bit of wit, not just labored love. Cohen and Jinks should be into that I'd hope. Funny as in Deadwood. Hey, shouldn't Milch be writing this??? For god's sake don't do a deadly serious hallowed sacred-art-shakespeare version. shakespeare was a brilliant (and brilliantly intelligent and witty) populist. Get Milch.
Posted by: Duncan Thompson | June 03, 2009 at 01:23 AM
I don't know who is responsible for the obviously fake wolf that jumps out at an attacking vampire who is about to take a bit out of Bella in New Moon. But, I'll tell you this much, I'm disappointed that Ms. Hardwicke is not directing New Moon. There were 5-6 perfectly real wolves in the movie Twilight. I wonder why one of them couldn't be used in a jump scene and then have illusionist do their part in making Jacob turn into a werewolf. For my money, the movie had better be pretty good. There is still time to repair this horrible mistake. Twilight & New Moon are good movies. Don't mess it up!
Posted by: Yvette Najera | June 07, 2009 at 03:42 PM
Ellen page...Ophelia? NO! Please no! She is pretty wrong for the role. Thirlby would be good, but I'd like to ee Evan Rachel Wood reteam with Hardwicke and play Ophelia. She is beautiful, can be vunerable and has a off-center edge.
Gertrude...Naomi Watts? Nicole Kidman? Someone in their early 40's. Streep is way too old already!
Posted by: Michellek | June 08, 2009 at 12:26 PM