Naomi Watts, Gwyneth Paltrow, Keira Knightley e Anthony Hopkins!

Preparate gli Oscar, perché sta arrivando un film che rischia di fare il botto: trattasi dell'adattamento cinematografico del "Re Lear" di William Shakespeare e già questo è un nome di peso.

Ad aumentare il prestigio del progetto ci pensa il cast: stando a quanto scritto dal Guardian, Re Lear sarà interpretato da Anthony Hopkins, mentre le sue tre figlie saranno Gwyneth Paltrow, Keira Knightley e Naomi Watts (foto).
Quest'ultima è la vera novità, perché la presenza di Hopkins era già stata confermata, mentre i nomi di Gwyneth Paltrow e Keira Knightley erano già stati ipotizzati (ora però sappiamo che sono ufficialmente a bordo).

L'unico nome che non brilla come gli altri è quello del regista Joshua Michael Stern, che è al suo terzo lungometraggio dopo il mystery/drama "Neverwas" (2005) e la commedia "Swing Vote" (che debutta negli USA l'1 agosto 2008). Sia come sia, i giochi sono ormai fatti e le riprese di "King Lear" cominciano l'anno prossimo con location in Irlanda e Inghilterra (release durante il 2009).

A proposito: la storia è quella di un re che deve scegliere come suddividere il suo regno tra le figlie, fa casino, disereda l'unica delle tre che meriterebbe e si ritrova nei guai fino al collo (ah, la sintesi, quanto sa essere terribile).

Planned Keira Knightley version of King Lear cancelled
A £25m film version of King Lear, starring Keira Knightley, has been cancelled, it has been disclosed.

The actresss was due to play Cordelia, the youngest daughter of the King, who would have been portrayed by Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Gwyneth Paltrow as Regan, Lear's treacherous middle daughter, and Naomi Watts would have completed the cast as his eldest daughter, Goneril.

The film was announced at the Cannes Film Festival last year and was expected to feature epic battle sequences.

It may be the first high profile casualty of the recession in the movie business, when one of the world's most bankable stars - number 42 in a recent Forbes power list - cannot get a project made.

It now leaves the way open for a rival production Shakespearean production with Al Pacino in the title role.

King Lear would have been 24-year-old Keira's debut in a work by the Bard.

A spokeswoman for Ruby Films said: "Ruby are no longer doing it - the film will no longer go ahead. It has not really been announced."

Film finance for independent movies has been hit hard by the recession, but Ruby Films refused to comment on whether this was the reason for the cancellation.

There have been more than a dozen adaptations of King Lear, most notably in a 1983 version starring Sir Laurence Olivier and Dame Diana Rigg.

Most recently there was a Channel 4 adaptation, based on the recent and highly acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company production starring Sir Ian McKellen as Lear and Romola Garai as Cordelia.

Knightley has still a busy schedule for the year ahead. She is due to appear in London Boulevard opposite Colin Farrell, a romance about an ex-con and a reclusive actress, Lillian Palmer. She will be in a Hollywood production as the original flapper Zelda Fitzgerald in The Beautiful and the Damned.

Fonte: http://www.telegraph.co.uk