Uh, Hopkins also Lear?
February 6, 2009 by John Murphy
Filed under Al Pacino, Anthony Hopkins, Bardfilm, King Lear, Tragedies
We reported two days ago the news that Al Pacino was set to play King Lear in a new adaptation directed by Michael Radford. A little internet searching on the subject yielded another surprise… apparently, Anthony Hopkins is also tapped to play the more “sinned against than sinning” monarch. Strange that a 400-year old play should be subject to the weird Hollywood rule which states that there can never be Two Much of a Good Thing. Recent examples include the battling Alexander the Great movies (Oliver Stone vs. Baz Luhrmann), the two Howard Hughes biopics (Martin Scorsese vs. Christopher Nolan), two volcano movies (Volcano vs. Dante’s Peak), and two asteroid movies (Deep Impact vs. Armageddon).
IMDB also lists Naomi Watts as Goneril (she’d be awesome), Gwyneth Paltrow as Regan (I’ve never warmed up to Gwyn, but maybe that’s why she’d be a great Regan), and Keira Knightley as Cordelia (oh dear, maybe Cordelia will get the Queen Guinevere treatment and be seen battling in buxomous body armor). No word on Edmund, Kent, Gloucester, or The Fool.
Apart from Keira, the other bad news is the guy in director’s chair. I don’t want to pre-judge, since maybe John Michael Stern is ready to wow us with unforseen gifts, but I’m not encouraged by a resume that includes a directing credit for the Kevin Costner-starring Swing Vote, and a writing credit for horror movie described as a cross between Alien and The Thing. I like the idea of Shakespeare being directed by a young guy with an untypical background (no RSC, BBC, or stage creds, period), but consider me a little skeptical at this point.
Whom would you rather see as Lear, Pacino or Hopkins? Who should be cast as Edmund? The Fool?
Check out Hopkins as Titus in Julie Taymor’s surreal version.
Check out Hopkins as Othello in the BBC series of Shakespeare adaptations.
Hopkins. Absolutely Hopkins! There’s no doubt!
As surprise in the movie I would give a chance Jim Carrey to play the fool Edgar – I think it would be awesome! Edmund… Kenneth Branagh? He was very remarkable in the role of the intrical Jago, the character seems to be similar and he has a very very VERY nice sense to Shakespeare, his name is a trademark of the Sh. adaptations, so he would be positive for the budget, too.
I am a Shakespare fan, but I won’t watch the version of Lear with Pacino. He is an axcellent actor, but not for this role and I would not make a trend for him to play Shakespeare. Naturally, my opinion is my opinion, I am not a producer…
I must say, I do like your Jim Carrey idea!