One of the darkest Shakespeare characters, Macbeth will come to life once again in the form of British actor Sean Bean. Harry Potter star Rupert Grint and Game Of Thrones’ Charles Dance will join the cast of Enemy Of Man, the new Vincent Regan film.
Kaleidoscope Film Distribution has sealed the deal as the film’s worldwide distributor and it will start its pitch during the Toronto International Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The new adaptation is set to start filming in January 2014. Also starring are Jason Flemyng ( X-Men: First Class ), James D’Arcy ( Cloud Atlas ), Neil Maskell ( Kill List ), and Joe Gilgun ( This is England ).
The film is being labelled as a retelling of the classic story of a brave Scottish general named Macbeth, who receives a prophecy from three witches who tell him that one day he will become King of Scotland. This fuels his ambition and he stops at nothing to make the prediction come true.
Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written between 1603 and 1607, with the first recorded performance taking place in 1611.
“Although 400 years old, Shakespeare’s work feels truly contemporary,” Regan said. “An ambitious childless couple; their longing for family replaced by a chilling pursuit of absolute power. Remaining true to its dark heart, we will strip back the dialogue, crank up the action and produce an atmospheric and blood-soaked chiller.”
Sean Bean
Producing Enemy Of Man will be Steve Harvey ( St. George’s Day ), Roopesh Parekh ( Da Vinci’s Demons ), Regan and Jasper Smith ( Playjam ).
The film has an estimated budget of £5,400,000.
Producer Roopesh Parekh took to Twitter confirming the announcement of Enemy Of Man getting picked up by Kaleidoscope.
Cat’s out of the bag. Check out this article from the Hollywood Reporter @THR pic.twitter.com/JfwVu86Fbu
— Roopesh Parekh (@roopeshparekh) September 6, 2013
There is another version of Macbeth in the works from director Justin Kurzel, which stars Michael Fassbender ( The Counselor ) in the title role and Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth.
