With the American Film Market opening, where producers attempt to lure potential distributors to their movies, one of the big ways to draw people in is with some juicy casting news. That seems to be what the makers of Coriolanus are doing, which the announcement that Gerard Butler is joining the cast of what is set to be Ralph Fiennes feature-film directing debut.
The makers are promising a contemporary version of Shakespeare’s Rome-set tale of politics and war. However it’s a bit difficult to see how contemporary it’s going to be if they’re keeping all the original names and settings, with Butler signing up to play Tullus Aufidius, commander of the Volscian army. So does ‘contemporary’ just mean that although it’s still set in Rome, they won’t be speaking Shakespeare’s dialogue? Presumably that’s right, as John Logan (The Last Samurai) has penned the script (although if Kenneth Branagh can get a screeplay Oscar nomination for his full-text version of Hamlet, who knows?).
In case you don’t know what Coriolanus is about, and quite frankly, who does, it tells the story of legendary Roman general, Gaius Martius (played by Fiennes) who battles against the Volscian army and then gets into politics, only to be exiled from Rome because of his unpopular views. He then joins the Volscians to try and get revenge against Rome. As with much Shakespeare, it’s a tale full of intrigue and murder, and could actually make a pretty good film.
Butler joins a cast that not only includes Ralph Fiennes, but also William Hurt, Eddie Marsan, Jessica Chastain and Vanessa Redgrave. The film is due to start shooting in February next March.