Ahead of its trip to the Cannes Film Festival in a couple of weeks’ time, StudioCanal has pulled back the blood-red curtain on the first images from Justin Kurzel’s reimagining of Macbeth, starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard as the troubled husband and wife.
In keeping with the unyielding dark tone of previous promotional material, these images hint at a traditional, yet slightly reworked take on the classic Shakespearean play. Situated during the eerie calm before the supernatural storm, we see Fassbender and Cotillard as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, respectively, who will have their will put to the test once the would-be king catches wind of a prophecy that could see the protagonist supplant King Duncan on the throne. According to the synopsis picked up by Empire, fans can expect “a reimagining of what wartime must have been like for one of Shakespeare’s most famous and compelling characters, a story of all-consuming passion and ambition set in war-torn medieval Scotland.”
One only has to look toward Kurzel’s résumé before arriving at the conclusion that the Australian filmmaker may be the perfect candidate to breath new life into this age-old tale, considering that he helmed the uneasy, true-life drama Snowtown about the titular massacre back in 2011. Here’s hoping Kurzel can hone that astute eye for cinematic detail for Macbeth.
Before diving into the rich history buried beneath the Assassin’s Creed property, Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard will unite for Kurzel’s Macbeth, which is poised to release Stateside via The Weinstein Company later this year. Elizabeth Debicki, Jack Reynor, Sean Harris, Paddy Considine and David Thewlis round out the impressive English cast. While we wait patiently for the early Cannes verdict, you can share your early impressions of the still images using the comments section below.