The Guardian online has reported some exciting news for bardolators: Julie Taymor, director of the ultraviolent and imaginative reworking of Titus Andronicus, Titus, will be directing Helen Mirren in a big-screen adaptation of The Tempest.

Dame Helen, in a gender-switch from the original, will be playing Prospera, the usurped Duchess possessed of a vast library and magical powers. Mirren will be joined by a stellar cast: Djimon Hounsou, Jeremy Irons, Ben Whishaw, and Alfred Molina.

Controversial filmmaker Peter Greenaway (who has worked with Mirren in The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover), previously adapted The Tempest as the visually sumptuous and downright bizarre Prospero’s Books, featuring in the title role the Man with the Miraculous Vocal Chords: John Gielgud.