Xixax Film Forum

Hirsch, Hardwicke booked for 'Hamlet'
Jinks/Cohen to present classic story as suspense thriller
Source: Variety

NEW YORK -- Overture will take on the Bard -- with a twist.

The Liberty Media studio has signed up for a modern take on "Hamlet" and attached a slew of big names to pull off the task.

"Twilight" and "thirteen" director Catherine Hardwicke is attached to direct, with Emile Hirsch, who helped conceive the idea, attached to star as the title character.

Ron Nyswaner, best known for penning Oscar winner "Philadelphia," will write the script.

"Milk" producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen will produce via their Jinks/Cohen banner.

The company said it is awaiting a finished script in the coming months and hopes to go into production not long after.

The new "Hamlet" will center on similar themes as the original play but will be set in contemporary America. In the new version, a young man must decide whether to kill his uncle to avenge the death of his father.

Jinks and Cohen said their "goal is to present the story as a suspense thriller. We want to make it exciting and accessible for an audience today."

Overture CEO and COO Chris McGurk and Danny Rosett noted that "with its universal themes of death, revenge, love and even teen angst -- the story of Hamlet is perhaps as timely and influential today as it was when it was written over 400 years ago."

Shakespeare has undergone a series of retellings in the past decade, with teen pic "10 Things I Hate About You," which was a retelling of "Taming of the Shrew," and Ethan Hawke starring in a Hamlet update that focused on corporate politics.