Hamlet as an action horror film?

Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke talked with Movieline about her plans for the Emile Hirsch-led contemporary update of Hamlet at the recent Young Hollywood Awards.

Tone wise, Hardwicke says "It's really like a thriller. From the day Hamlet's father dies, three days later eight people are dead and a ghost is telling him to murder for revenge so we're doing it as a suspense thriller".

There'll be some additions as well - "All the action that often is off camera, we're showing it in great vivid detail. It's scary...you're going to see a lot of crazy stuff."

Asked about comparisons with another contemporary set Hamlet, Michael Almereyda's 2000 drama starring Ethan Hawke, Hardwicke says her film will be a lot "shorter and tighter".

Anyone else hear alarm bells after reading that?

Source: Dark Horizons

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Emile Hirsch to play Hamlet

Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild, Milk, Speed Racer) has signed on to play Hamlet in a new feature adaptation of William Shakespeare’s renowned tragedy. Catherine Hardwicke, fresh off directing Twilight, is set to direct the film with a script by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia).

Hamlet tells the story of a young man faced with the dilemma of whether he should exact revenge on his father’s killer. In true Shakespearean form, the murderer happens to be his uncle. This version, similar to the 2000 adaptation staring Ethan Hawke, will be set in present day America.

Catherine Hardwicke on her vision of Hamlet:

“I had a great time working with Emile on ‘Lords of Dogtown’, so when he suggested ‘Hamlet’, I was intrigued. We read the play aloud and when I heard Emile speaking Shakespeare’s amazing words, I was flooded with images. We edited the play tightly, making the words extremely accessible. In our version, we’re working hard to make ‘Hamlet’ a thrilling cinematic experience — the violent, intense, and romantic scenes that happen ‘off-stage’ in the play will be shown in vivid detail.”

Oscar winning producer’s Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen (MILK) on their different take on Hamlet:

“This project was the brainchild of Emile Hirsch, who we had the pleasure of working with on ‘Milk’. Hamlet was in college when the story takes place, yet there hasn’t been a movie version with an appropriately-aged actor playing the role. Our goal is to present the story as a suspense thriller. We want to make it exciting and accessible for an audience today,” Jinks and Cohen said in a joint statement.

I do like Emile Hirsch as an actor. I thought he was stunning in Sean Penn's Into the Wild. How do you feel about another version of Hamlet?

Source: Gordon and the Whale

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