There was no surprise in the previous story mixing the name Kenneth Branagh with Shakespeare, but Bruce Willis? Apparently so, and in a modern day adaptation of Hamlet no less. From Cinema Minima:
Willis has also agreed to appear along side John Malkovich, Ellen Barkin and Alison Lohman in director Malcolm Venville’s TEXAS LULLABY, a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s HAMLET.
The script was written by Steve Allison, who’s gay-cabaret-performer-turned-Rugby-coach-fish-out-of-water comedy starring Alan Cumming and Catherine Zeta-Jones COMING OUT is currently being shot in Wales by Joel Zwick.
Malcolm Venville, best known for his award winning anti-smoking ads on British TV, plans to start shooting TEXAS LULLABY in Texas and Shreveport, Louisiana in December.
Willis in Hamlet, perhaps as Hamlet? I don’t think so, I really feel that role will go to Malkovich so don’t go getting too crazy about this just yet. Chances are that Willis will have a more side role, although still prominent. This could be what Willis has been talking about this last year, he’s wanting to give up the action role soon as he himself recognises he’s just too old to cut it anymore, perhaps this is an attempt to pull out the actor in him?
Personally I think he could do it, he gave a superb performance in Hostage, it was a much more restrained Willis, and the trademark gestures and lines were all toned down for a stronger more believable performance. Yet, can he do Shakespeare where so many have failed?
ummm…wasn’t christopher walken in a modern retelling of hamlet? can’t remember the name of the film though… nope that was macbeth, in “scotland pa”
ok then there was ethan hawke in “hamlet” and “macbeth”
and then there was the modern retelling of othello – “o”
the taming of the shrew, “ten things i hate about you”
pygmalion, “she’s all that”
the list goes on and on. actually, it seems horror remakes are this decade’s modern retellings.
how many “modern retellings” of classics can we have?
(yikes! this message was all over the place)
LOL, I remember that episode of Moonlighting. It was entertaining.
As far as this movie project goes it’s a modern version of Hamlet, so who’s to say that they’ll keep the same dialogue?
Personally, I don’t see Willis spouting off Shakespeare’s dialogue, but I’d be willing to watch him try before I made my final judgement. Hell, it couldn’t be any worse than Keanu Reeves in Much Ado About Nothing.
He did Taming Of The Shew on his old TV show. I still remember him riding up on a horse with BMW logo on it. Still one of my favorite show.
Donna A.