A24 has graced us with a trailer for The Tragedy of Macbeth, which has Joel Coen going at this alone in the director’s chair without his brother Ethan. Coen has the benefit of Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand taking on William Shakespeare and from the looks of it, they’re more than up for the challenge.
Shot in black-and-white, Coen’s take on the story stars Washington as Lord Macbeth and McDormand as Lady Macbeth. Sticking to the source material, the film will follow the couple’s murderous ploys to achieve power over Scotland and their resulting descent into madness. You know, classic Shakespeare stuff. The film also stars Corey Hawkins, Moses Ingram, Brendan Gleeson, Harry Melling, and Ralph Ineson.
The Tragedy of Macbeth marks the first time either he or his brother Ethan has directed a project without the other. Joel Coen is joined with some frequent collaborators, however. McDormand, his wife, has appeared in numerous Coen brothers’ films while Gleeson has also worked with the brothers before. It’ll be interesting to see how Joel performs on his own but this first trailer certainly looks promising.
The Tragedy of Macbeth will make its world premiere on opening night at the New York Film Festival on September 24, 2021, and it is scheduled for a limited release on December 25, 2021, before heading to streaming on Apple TV+ on January 14, 2022.
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