Shakespeare Back on the Big Screen with the BEST CAST EVER

“Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.” Miranda, I.ii

Wow, talk about getting all the greats onto one stage…set. Same difference. The Hollywood Reporter stated that Julie Taymor (Titus, Across the Universe), no stranger to Shakespeare will be taking on one of his greatest plays The Tempest and she’s doing it with one of the best casts you’ve ever seen.

The film will be shaking up Shakespeare’s last play by mixing up the roles a bit and altering the story for screen. The Reporter stated: “Shakespeare’s play mixes romance with fraternal politics and the supernatural. As revised for the screen, it will center around Prospera, her daughter Miranda (Jones) and a shipwrecked crew full of Prospera’s enemies.”

They will also be playing around with genders. Men played all the characters back in the day and now Taymor’s version appears to be androgynous. Prospero, the deposed Duke of Milan who became a sorcerer, will be played by Dame Helen Mirren. Trust me, she’s more than a man or a woman, she can handle it. Geoffrey Rush is in negotiations to play Prospera’s adviser, Gonzalo. How amazing would it be to have those to on screen together? Of course, Jeremy Irons (who loves him a time piece) will play Prospera’s brother Alonso. Djimon Hounsou, who will tackle Caliban, Russell Brand will play the jester Trinculo, Alfred Molina, will be the drunken Stephano, Ben Wishaw the spirit Ariel, and Felicity Jones as Prospera’s daughter, Miranda.

The film is in pre-production. So we should be hearing for as 2009 approaches.