MovieChat Forums > Cymbeline (2015) Discussion > Baz Luhrmann's 'Romeo+Juliet' meets 'Son...

Baz Luhrmann's 'Romeo+Juliet' meets 'Sons of Anarchy'

posted 11 years ago by notacastingcouch
8 replies | jump to latest

Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element, Resident Evil) has just joined the cast of the upcoming Cymbeline and will star opposite Ethan Hawke, Ed Harris and Penn Badgley. The film marks writer-director Michael Almereyda’s (Hamlet) modern day adaption of Shakespeare’s timeless play.

Set to start principal photography on August 19, 2013 in New York City, Cymbeline unfolds as an epic battle between dirty cops and a drug dealing biker gang set in a corruption-riddled 21st century America. In the vein of "Sons of Anarchy" and in the style of Romeo + Juliet, Cymbeline is a fresh take on a universal story of love, betrayal and revenge.

Playing the Queen, Milla Jovovich is also set to star in a sixth Resident Evil film, set for release on September 12, 2014.

Cymbeline is produced by Anthony Katagas (Killing Them Softly, 12 Years a Slave) for Keep Your Head Productions and Michael Benaroya (Margin Call, Kill Your Darlings), who will fully finance the film through his banner Benaroya Pictures. Ben Sachs of Benaroya Pictures will executive produce the film, with International Film Trust (IFT), Benaroya's foreign sales arm, handling all international rights to the film.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=107559

[–] hedwig_fawkes 11 years ago

Thank you. Excited about Penn.

[–] notacastingcouch 11 years ago

From the set pictures, it looks like it's going to be a very dramatic film.

[–] knowledgefiend 10 years ago

I'm not much a fan of modernized Shakespeare adaptations, but I thought Hamlet (2000)was really good. It worked well with the medium of film, implementing modern film techniques while also honoring the source material. I couldn't be more excited for Cymbeline, being that it's the same director. Also, what a cast!

[–] mrpoizun 10 years ago

It's always a mistake to make a modern film based on Shakespeare while retaining the Elizabethan dialogue. It guarantees box office failure, no matter the cast. Beyond that, it sounds ridiculous.

[–] Lethal_007 9 years ago

Ralph Fiennes's Coriolanus was a modern adaptation of WS's play and it was very good. Romeo + Juliet was ok as well. Sure Coriolanus didn't make a profit but at least showed that it's possible to make a film based on a play in a contemporary setting and still be enticing.

[after killing an Irish] Burn him, see if his ashes turn green - Bill the Butcher

[–] twilliams76 9 years ago

I just wrote a review with this exact comparison. The same tone and colors. Several cast members of R + J, the Shakespearean dialect plus motorcycles makes the comparison inevitable I guess.

Spot on.

[–] metadrone09 9 years ago

My opinion, Cymbeline is much better than Romeo + Juliet, though I can feel the relation you mean. I also like Coriolanus by Ralph Fiennes.

[–] camel-wides 9 years ago

Son's of Anarchy itself was an adaptation of Hamlet, so it isn't too far a stretch