Macbeth?

http://www.screendaily.com/news/michael-fassbender-see-saw-partner-on-macbeth/5054372.article?blocktitle=Latest-News&contentID=1846

Michael Fassbender, See Saw partner on Macbeth

29 April, 2013 | By Andreas Wiseman

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Fassbender, Justin Kurzel attached to new version of Macbeth, from the producers of The King’s Speech.

Michael Fassbender is attached to play Macbeth in a new version of Shakespeare’s classic, which will be produced by The King’s Speech and Shame producers See Saw.

Snowtown director Justin Kurzel is attached to direct the film, which is expected to shoot later this year. Writers are Todd Louiso and Jacob Koskoff.

The script has been one of the most in-demand ahead of the Cannes Film Festival with a number of sales outfits keen to work on the film.

Development and production backing on the UK-Australian co-production comes from Film4.

The part of Lady Macbeth is currently being cast and talks are underway with at least one Hollywood leading actress.

The production sees Fassbender reunited with Shame producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman and Film4, with whom the actor worked on Hunger, Shame and the upcoming Frank.

The new take on Shakespeare’s classic - about a ruthlessly ambitious Scottish lord who siezes the throne with the help of his scheming wife and three witches - is set in the 11th century and in the original language.

The script is understood to be a visceral approach to the story including significant battle scenes.

The play has been recently staged in London’s West End starring James McAvoy, who was nominated for an Olivier Award for his turn. Famous film versions include Roman Polanski’s 1971 version and Orson Welles’ from 1948.

Actor-director Louiso, whose acting credits include High Fidelity and Jerry Maguire, has been twice-nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance - as director of 2002 comedy-drama Love Liza starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Kathy Bates; and in 2012 for comedy-romance Hello I Must Be Going.

Louiso and Koskoff collaborated as writer-director and writer, respectively, on 2009 Paramount Vantage comedy-drama The Marc Pease Experience starring Jason Schwartzman, Ben Stiller and Anna Kendrick.

The in-demand Kurzel is also attached to direct John Le Carre thriller Our Kind of Traitor, which was due to shoot later this year.

http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a477060/michael-fassbender-for-new-macbeth-from-kings-speech-producers.html

Monday, April 29, 2013
Movies
Michael Fassbender for new 'Macbeth' from 'King's Speech' producers
Published Monday, Apr 29 2013, 6:51am EDT | By Emma Dibdin

Michael Fassbender will star in a new version of Macbeth.

Screen Daily reports that Fassbender will play the lead role of a Scottish nobleman whose life is destroyed after he assassinates the king.

Snowtown director Justin Kurzel will helm the new adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy, which will reunite Fassbender with Shame and Hunger producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman.

The script was written by Todd Louiso and Jacob Koskoff, and is described as a "visceral" interpretation of the story.

Casting is currently underway for the role of Lady Macbeth, the hero's manipulative and ambitious wife.

Watch James McAvoy discussing his recent run as Macbeth in the West End with Digital Spy below:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/michael-fassbender-to-play-macbeth-for-snowtown-director-justin-kurzel-20130429

Michael Fassbender To Play 'Macbeth' For 'Snowtown' Director Justin Kurzel
News
by Kevin Jagernauth
April 29, 2013 7:59 AM

Everyone from Sam Worthington (really) to Orson Welles has taken on "Macbeth," and the Shakespeare play that dare not say its name has been adapted countless time for the stage, television and multiplex. Well, when it comes to the cinema, (quality) movie versions have been a bit fewer and farther between, so the news that Michael Fassbender might take the lead in "the Scottish play" certainly has our attention.

The actor is attached to a new version of Shakespeare's work that will be directed by the fast rising "Snowtown" director, Justin Kurzel. Penned by Todd Louiso (the director behind "Love Liza" and "Hello I Must Be Going") and Jacob Koskoff (who co-penned "The Marc Pease Experience" with Louiso), the story will be the same, set in the 11th century, and will be presented in the original dialogue. However, this version will be more "visceral" and contain "significant battle scenes." And production is coming together pretty fast.

Plans are underway for the film to shoot later this year, and will seemingly be bumping plans for Kurzel's adaptation of John Le Carre's "Our Kind Of Traitor," which had Ralph Fiennes and Mads Mikkelsen lining up. A bit of bummer, but still, Fassy + Macbeth is a combo we won't argue with. And speaking of the actor, who is currently lensing "X-Men: Days Of Future Past," this is a nice meaty project to dive into after the VFX extravaganza. As for Lady Macbeth? Talks are apparently underway with an unnamed "Hollywood leading actress." Suggestions?

So bust out the Cliffs Notes and get re-familiarized with the work, because it will be coming at you very soon. [Screen Daily]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/apr/29/michael-fassbender-play-macbeth

Michael Fassbender to play Macbeth

Prometheus and Inglourious Basterds star to lead Shakespeare movie, directed by Snowtown's Justin Kurzel

Xan Brooks
guardian.co.uk, Monday 29 April 2013 11.03 EDT

Michael Fassbender in Ridley Scott's Prometheus
Blood will have blood … Michael Fassbender, seen here in Prometheus, will take the title role in the Scottish play. Photograph: Twentieth Century Fox/Sportsphoto/Allstar

Michael Fassbender is to play Macbeth in a new film version of the William Shakespeare tragedy, produced by the company behind Steve McQueen's Shame and the Oscar-winning The King's Speech. Screen Daily reports that the picture will be directed by the Australian film-maker Justin Kurzel, best known for his 2011 crime drama Snowtown.

Macbeth charts the rise and fall of a Scottish general, who seizes the throne with the help of his ambitious wife and eventually sparks a civil war. Shakespeare's play has been tackled in the past by directors such as Roman Polanski, Akira Kurosawa and Orson Welles, who described his 1948 adaptation as "a violently sketched charcoal drawing of a great play".

The Kurzel version will be produced by See-Saw Films from a script adapted by Todd Louiso and Jacob Koskoff. The casting of the play's other roles, including Lady Macbeth, has yet to be announced.

Fassbender made his screen debut in the sword-and-sandal epic 300, before going on to star in Eden Lake, Prometheus and Inglourious Basterds. He will next be seen in the historical drama Twelve Years a Slave, which marks his third collaboration with director Steve McQueen after Hunger and Shame. Other forthcoming projects include Frank, a film based on the life of the eccentric 1980s singer Frank Sidebottom, and the as-yet-untitled new picture from Terrence Malick.

http://news.moviefone.com/2013/04/29/michael-fassbender-macbeth_n_3178724.html

Michael Fassbender in 'Macbeth': Actor to Take On Shakespeare

Moviefone | By Drew Taylor Posted: 04/29/2013 12:45 pm EDT | Updated: 04/29/2013 12:45 pm EDT

After tackling Magneto, a killer robot, and a sex-addicted New Yorker, Michael Fassbender has set his sights on his next challenge: "Macbeth." Fassbender will play the scheming nobleman for "Snowtown" director Justin Kurzel.

The screenplay, by Todd Louiso and Jacob Koskoff, while supposedly a "visceral" new adaptation, will retain the original Shakespearean setting and dialogue. Louiso and Koskoff collaborated on the Paramount Vantage comedy "The Marc Pease Experience," which, despite starring Ben Stiller and Jason Schwartzman, was unceremoniously dumped into a handful of theaters while Vantage was being erased from the Paramount landscape.

"Macbeth" will reunite "Shame" producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman (who also produced Fassbender's upcoming comedic drama "Frank"). It's unclear when the adaptation will film, however, since Kurzel was recently attached to an adaptation of the John le Carre thriller "Our Kind of Traitor," which was supposed to go later this year.

If you’ve never read "Macbeth," it concerns a nobleman with murderous intentions who uses a variety of schemes (including the aid of three witches) to become the new king of Scotland. So basically: "Brave" without the bears.