How's your Shakespear, everybody? A little rusty, you say? Well, you might want to brush up on your iambic pentameter because A24 and Apple Original Films are partnering to bring Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth to a theater near you. Starring Academy Award-winners Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, the film will be released in theaters worldwide later this year ahead of a global launch on Apple TV+.
The cast of The Tragedy of Macbeth also includes Bertie Carvel, Alex Hassell, Corey Hawkins, Kathryn Hunter, Harry Melling, and Brendan Gleeson. Joining Coen for the effort are some of his best and brightest collaborators, such as Bruno Delbonnel as the cinematographer, Mary Zophres as costume designer, and a score from Carter Burwell. Cohen is directing the film in addition to producing alongside McDormand and Robert Graf. McDormand and Coen are old friends, of course, after teaming for films like 1984's Blood Simple, 1996's Fago, and 2016's Hail, Caesar! The Tragedy of Macbeth also stands as Coen's first solo directing gig without his creative partner and brother Ethan Coen.
Described as a new take on Shakespeare's classic tale, The Tragedy of Macbeth was shot in black-and-white. The story follows a Scottish lord who becomes convinced by a trio of witches that he will become the next king of Scotland, and his ambitious wife supports him in his plans of seizing power. Of course, nothing in Shakespeare's stories ever goes according to plan, so it's best to prepare yourselves for melancholy, misdeeds, and madness.
Last year during an Instagram Live Q&A, McDormand revealed her thoughts concerning Coen's latest feature by saying:
“In Joel’s adaptation, we are exploring the age of the characters and in our adaptation, the Macbeths are older,” McDormand explained. “Both Denzel and I are older than what is often cast as the Macbeths. We’re postmenopausal, we’re past childbearing age. So that puts pressure on their ambition to have the crown. I think the most important distinction is that it is their last chance for glory.”
Coen himself has referred to the upcoming feature as a thriller of sorts. “I think that is something that I’ve always sort of felt when watching the play and also something that became more clear and more interesting to me as I was getting into it and doing the adaptation," Coen remarked. "It’s interesting how Shakespeare sort of pre-figured certain tropes in American thriller and crime literature that were common in the early part of the 20th century.”
With distribution for the film now a lock, I suspect that we'll be hearing about a release date for The Tragedy of Macbeth sooner rather than later.