Denzel Washington is in talks to star in the new screen adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic Macbeth, Deadline reported. He will join his fellow Academy Award winner Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri). Joel Coen, who received an Oscar nomination for Netflix’s anthology The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, will write and direct.
Per Macbeth‘s storyline, a Scottish lord becomes convinced by a trio of witches that he is destined to become the king. With the help of his ambitious wife, who encourages him to speed up the process by murdering the sitting king.
Shakespeare’s tragedy was first adapted for the big screen back in 1948 by Orson Welles and most recently in 2015.
Washington recently starred in Equalizer 2 and is set to direct Journal for Jordan, Sony Pictures’ upcoming adaptation of Pulitzer-winning journalist Dana Cadendy’s bestselling memoir starring Michael B. Jordan. Macbeth will reportedly go into production at the beginning of 2020.
