Speed Racer star Emile Hirsch set for 'modern' Hamlet
Overture planning contemporary take on Hamlet with Emile Hirsch
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Wednesday, 03, Jun 2009 10:31
To adapt or not to adapt is not the question for Overture Films who are planning a contemporary take on Hamlet with young actor Emile Hirsch to star.
Catherine Hardwicke, director of the first film in the Twilight saga, is attached to direct the new spin on the Bard's most renowned play, according to the Hollywood Reporter, with Hirsch attached to play the Dane.
The young actor, best known for The Girl Next Door, Alpha Dog and Speed Racer, conceived the idea of placing Shakespeare's play in modern America, said producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, who worked with Hirsch on Oscar-nominated Milk.
The pair said their goal is to present the story of the vengeful young prince as "a suspense thriller".
"We want to make it exciting and accessible for an audience today," they added.
Ron Nyswaner, screenwriter of Academy award-winner Philadelphia, is to pen the script in the coming months, with the Jinks/Cohen production house producing and Overture backing the project.
Overture chief executive and chief operating officer Chris McGurk and Danny Rosett said that the story of Hamlet, "with its universal themes of death, revenge, love and even teen angst… is perhaps as timely and influential today as it was when it was written over 400 years ago".
The play has been adapted for the screen on numerous occasions, with Laurence Olivier, Mel Gibson, Kenneth Branagh and Ethan Hawke all playing the young prince.