Much ado about something!
What is Joss Whedon up to? Per THR:
News of the project first hit the Internet late Sunday when stars — and frequent Whedon collaborators — Nathan Fillion and Sean Maher along with costume designer Shawna Trpcic tweeted a link to MuchAdoTheMovie.com, which offered scant details about the previously unannounced project.
The site featured a single photo of a man in what appears to be a lake wearing scuba gear and holding a martini glass. It reads, “Bellwether Pictures is proud to announce the completion of principal photography” and says the project is “a film by Joss Whedon based on a play.”
It also listed a slew of actors who have worked with Whedon in the past, including Fillion, Maher, Amy Acker, Fran Krantz and Tom Lenk.
More details after the jump!
But on Monday, a press release appeared on the website answering at least some of those questions. The film is, in fact, a modern version of Shakespeare’s play that Whedon directed and was filmed in black and white in only 12 days entirely on location in Santa Monica.
“The text is to me a deconstruction of the idea of love, which is ironic, since the entire production is a love letter — to the text, to the cast, even to the house it’s shot in,” Whedon said of the project.
Acker and Alexis Denisof star as Beatrice and Benedick, while the supporting cast includes Fillion as Dogberry, Clark Gregg as Leonato, Fran Kranz as Claudio, Maher as Don John, Lenk as Verges and Reed Diamond as Don Pedro.
Other links:
The photo:
Maybe this shouldn’t come as a big surprise as Whedon is an avowed fan of Shakespeare. Check out these excerpts from this interview:
IGNFF: How far back does your love of Shakespeare go?
WHEDON: As far back as I can remember. I used to read plays when I was a kid. As soon as I was old enough to get through a play, the first one I remember reading were Henry IV… I think Shakespeare works when it’s emotionally true. It can be done on a bare stage. Actually, we had a reading of Lear yesterday, at my house, sitting around out by the garden.
That could have been the inspiration right there, sitting around at his house with some actors, reading Shakespeare aloud.
And he did it while working on The Avengers!
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