Remember when we told you Natalie Portman was set to play Lady Macbeth alongside Michael Fassbender in the big screen Shakesperian adaptation? Turns out we lied.
Not intentionally. And not technically lying, either - as Portman had previously been confirmed as playing the power-crazed she-queen, back in May. And very pleased about it too, Portman was said to be, given that she'd toyed with doing stage versions of 'The Scottish Play' earlier in her career. But it seems she'll have to wait that little bit longer, as director Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) has now plumped for Marion Cotillard instead.
Not that we're complaining of course. What with her Oscar-winning turn as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose and as Miranda Tate in The Dark Knight Rises, Cotillard has previous in portraying empowered, stereotype-slaying women. None quite as headstrong as Macbeth's scheming, blood-lusting wife mind you, but if she can lock horns with Christian Bale's Batman, Michael Fassbender can expect to soon be quaking in his 17th century boots.
Pre-production's pencilled for the end of this year, with Iain Canning and Emile Sherman (The King's Speech, Shame) on producing duties.
(Images: Rex)
Latest
Related Reviews and Shortlists
