Sooner or later, it seems that every young actor is drawn to Macbeth. James McAvoy performed the role on stage recentlty and a castle-load of people have embodied the character on screen, including Orson Welles and Sam Worthington. Now Michael Fassbender seems set to join the ranks of the crown-coveting fraternity{
Snowtown director Justin Kurzel is set to wield the megaphone for this one, based on an adaptation of the Shakespeare play by Todd Louiso and Jacob Koskoff. According to Screen Daily, the script has been a hot property and the new film – particularly with Fassbender in the central role – should attract plenty of buyers once the Cannes Film Festival market kicks off next month.
Kurzel is planning to start directing this one later in the year, with the story of the ruthlessly ambitious Scottish lord who seizes the throne with the help of his scheming wife and three witches still set in the 11th century and featuring Shakespeare’s original language but boosted with visceral battle scenes and, if tradition holds, buckets of blood.
If he takes the role Fassbender will complete a set of sorts: his fellow mutant players James McAvoy, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen have all played the role to great acclaim (McKellen's performance, in particular, is considered one of the best of the 20th century), so Fassbender will be the second Magneto, following two Professor Xs, to take the challenge.
Fassbender is currently at work on X-Men: Days Of Future Pas****t and will be seen this year in Frank, Twelve Years A Slave, The Counselor and one of Terrence Malick’s upcoming films.