While Helen Mirren touting a machine gun in Red might be the least traditional image we’ll see of her this year, there’s plenty of scope for her to mix things up in Julie Taymor’s new take on The Tempest. And the first poster for the movie has just popped up online.
Taymor, who last tackled Shakespeare with the cannibalism-fuelled Titus, first staged The Tempest in the 1980s on stage with her now trademark blend of puppetry and drama. The gender-switching film version is much bigger in scope and finds Mirren playing Prospera, a woman looking to exact revenge after she’s been unfairly usurped and exiled by her dead hubbie’s brother so he can steal her kingdom. Never let it be said old Bill Shakespeare didn’t love a dysfunctional family.
Long thought dead, she instead washes up on an island, and with her alchemic powers, starts plotting how she’ll get back at the men who wronged her. And there’s also her daughter, Miranda to raise.
The cast is stocked with talent, including Alfred Molina, Alan Cumming, Djimon Hounsou, Chris Cooper, David Strathairn, Ben Whishaw, Felicity Jones and Tom Conti. Oh, and Russell Brand – can’t wait to see how he stacks up with that blistering ensemble.
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Click on the poster above to see it full size at Yahoo Movies
Check out the poster above. The film arrives in the US on December 10, and, hopefully, not long after that over here.