Joel Coen and Frances McDormand recently did an Instagram live interview and spilled some beans about their upcoming Macbeth adaptation (sans Ethan) starring Denzel Washington, and McDormand herself.
Confirming that the official title will be “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” filming on the film, which Joel called a “thriller,” had begun on February 10th and Coen confirmed that they were about 2/3 of the way done with the shoot before production shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now actor Miles Anderson, who stars in Coen’s upcoming Shakespearean adaptation, tweeted that there were only two weeks left to filming when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the set had to be locked down.
For those of us wishing for a Coen-esque feature, expect disappointment since Joel has admitted that his adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic tale will be very faithful to the original text, with around “85% of the language” being kept for the film version.
This is Joel’s first non-episodic film since 2016’s “Hail Caesar.” It’s a peculiar project, to say the least, no word yet on why brother Ethan is not part of the project. It’s a conspicuous absence, most notably because they have always worked together (Joel is usually credited as the director, Ethan as the co-writer). They haven’t missed a collaboration together since their 1984 debut “Blood Simple.”
“Macbeth” is set to be released by A24, but no release date has been confirmed.