The producer of Much Ado About Nothing and Shakespeare in Love is looking to tackle a Welsh take on Hamlet.
Something is rotten in… nope, not Denmark but Wales, according to the plans for a UK-staged feature film of Hamlet. The classic Shakespearean tale of betrayal and madness has seen film versions starring Laurence Olivier, Kenneth Branagh, Mel Gibson and moreat different points. But producer David Parfitt is now planning a film adaptation that offers an interesting twist on the Bard’s material.
“Everything is cast-dependent” and depends on “if we can find that key piece of talent,” Parfitt told Screen. “The twist on our Hamlet development is it’s Hamlet set in the UK. It’s Hamlet, Prince Of Wales, set in the future. Politics have collapsed, the monarchy have taken over again.”
It’s certainly a thoughtful take and if anybody in the business knows how to reshape Shakespeare’s material into entertaining feature films, it’s Parfitt. As well as producing the awards machine that was 1998’s Shakespeare In Love, he also produced the glorious 1993 adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.
Parfitt has said that he is currently chatting with a couple of different people about filling that star role and it seems that the project’s future hinges upon getting that casting in place.
We’re hoping that Parfitt can pull together the necessary elements to make Hamlet, Prince Of Wales a reality. We’ll bring you more on this project as we hear it.
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