Before the trio unite for their big-screen adaptation of Assassin’s Creed – which incidentally revealed its first official still earlier today – Justin Kurzel (Snowtown), Marion Cotillard and Michael Fassbender will delve into Shakespearean lore with Macbeth. Charting the trials and tribulations of Fassbender’s titular Thane and his would-be path to the throne, Kurzel is gunning for a gripping and haunting portrayal of the famed supernatural play, and earlier this year a spine-chilling trailer only reaffirmed the director’s gritty tone.
Fast forward to today and Empire has served up a pair of new moody character posters for the upcoming feature film, showcasing a pensive Lady Macbeth and a battle-ready Thane of Glamis. Drawing upon the truly mythic tenets of the source material, we can readily expect Kurzel’s Macbeth to chart the gradual ruination of Fassbender’s character who, after encountering a trio of witches in the Scottish Highland, becomes hell-bent on usurping King Duncan’s throne. Drunk on power, Macbeth is absolutely one of Shakespeare’s greatest creations, and it’s a status echoed by his life-time love.
Her face obscured by a ironically graceful veil, Cotillard’s Lady Macbeth is just as power hungry – if not more so – than her significant other, slowly coercing Fassbender’s psyche as he experiences the ultimate fall from grace. Sean Harris, Paddy Considine, David Thewlis, Jack Reynor and Elizabeth Debicki complete the cast, and there’s already an awards buzz surrounding Kurzel’s latest.
At the time of writing, StudioCanal UK is primed to debut Macbeth in the United Kingdom on October 2, and though there’s still no word regarding other territories, we expect Kurzel’s Shakespearean drama to make its way across the pond during the thick of this year’s awards season.
Macbeth is the story of a fearless warrior and inspiring leader brought low by ambition and desire. A thrilling interpretation of the dramatic realities of the times and a reimagining of what wartime must have been like for one of Shakespeare’s most famous and compelling characters, a story of all-consuming passion and ambition set in war torn 11th Century Scotland.