Julie Taymor, Academy Aaward-nominated director of films like 1999's Titus, Across the Universe, and Frida, is tackling the substantial job of adapting William Shakespeare's The Tempest to a feature-length film. Helen Mirren will be playing Prospera (a female Prospero), Felicity Jones will be Miranda, Ben Whishaw as Ariel, the awesome Djimon Hounsou as Caliban, Reeve Carney as Ferdinand, Alan Cumming as Sebastian, Chris Cooper as Antonio, and David Strathairn as Alfonso. Did I mention comedian Russel Brand as Trinculo, the jester?
I'm a big fan of Shakespeare adaptations (like last year's Hamlet with David Tennant, Patrick Stewart and the enchanting Mariah Gale), and this one seems quite promising. I'm interested to see if the choice to make Prospero female will make for a more interesting and female-centric story than the original.
Trailer