Joel Coen Will Direct ‘Macbeth’ Starring Denzel Washington And Frances McDormand
By Chris Evangelista/March 28, 2019 11:49 am EST
Beyond that, I’m incredibly pumped about this. While there have been plenty adaptations of Macbeth – including one as recently as 2015, with Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard – the prospect of a Coen-infused take on Shakespeare, with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand in the leads, is too good to ignore.
In Shakespeare’s classic play, power-hungry Scottish Lord Macbeth and his scheming wife Lady Macbeth plot to seize the crown and take over Scotland, raking up a body count along the way. In addition to the 2015 film, the story has been adapted to screen by Orson Welles in 1948, and Roman Polanski in 1971 (Polanski’s adaptation is my personal favorite take on the material).
We don’t know yet what Coen’s take on the material will be. It’s difficult to imagine him making a straight, period-appropriate adaptation of Shakespeare’s text, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he gives it twist – changing the setting and the story in some way. Variety says that “Coen will direct from his own original script,” which certainly hints at the filmmaker adding his own distinct voice to the material.
