He got to play the tough lender Shylock in the 2004 adaptation of The Merchant of Venice, and now Al Pacino wants to take on Shakespeare's equivalent of Cinderella and her wretched stepsisters. Variety reports that he's grabbing the lead in Michael Radford's upcoming adaptation of King Lear. But wait -- this isn't the same project that's already got Anthony Hopkins, Keira Knightley, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Naomi Watts. Yes, we're getting TWO King Lear films. While I don't particularly agree with the practice, I get how dueling pictures come to be -- but this is ridiculous!
Producer Barry Navidi says that Radford "came up with the most brilliant adaptation and Al and I flipped for it." It better be one heck of a showstopper, because not any production can face Hopkins and survive (let alone that trio of actresses). Me, I prefer the idea of Hopkins. I've seen Al's Shylock, and I've been in spitting distance (the man spits a lot) when he played Marc Antony, but Lear just doesn't seem like the role for him.
Then again, it's better than his recent buddy duo fare. But what say you? Can you stomach two new versions of Lear and his ungrateful daughters? And which Lear do you prefer?
categories Cinematical
