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Here’s the official trailer for Joss Whedon’s indie Much Ado About Nothing that he’ll be presenting Saturday at SXSW. The pic is a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words. Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker star along with Nathan Fillion, Clark Gregg, Ashley Johnson, Fran Kranz and Spencer Treat Clark. Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions will release on June 7.
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Alexis Denisoff and Amy Acker. I’m there!
lot of white actors. . . that’s all. . . love the music.
It’s based on a Shakespeare work, and I’m sure he didn’t have a lot of African-american characters.
Just, oh, Othello… And that didn’t stop Kenneth Branagh from casting Denzel Washington in his 1993 version.
This looks dreadful. Sorry, Joss, without superheroes no one wants to watch your films.
Yeah, Othello – that ONE guy.
And as progressive as it may have been to cast Denzel – he did come off as rather out of place. But keep up the bitter – you wear it well.
@ Jer — I *loved* Branagh’s version including Denzel’s portrayal of Don Pedro. How did he come off as “out of place” – because he was the only black person in the room?! I hope that’s not what you mean because that is ridiculous.
As for other modern stagings and/or retellings, including Baz’s R&J — Mercutio is black. In the BBC Hamlet with David Tennant, Horatio is a person of color. I haven’t seen all the mod ones but I agree with the others who suggest this retelling of MAAN could have been a bit more diverse.
Are you saying that only white actors can portray Shakespearean roles? I know you don’t mean that . . . I think this movie looks really good but the casting. . . I don’t know it makes me feel . . . not right?
Check out Alan Parker’s Othello with Laurence Fishburne. Fishburne is awesome.
“Put up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them!”
I hope this movie does well. I think there’s a higher chance of success now that Joss Whedon has become famous due to the success of The Avengers. Wouldn’t it be great and a shock if the movie made $25 million its 1st weekend?
Joss may’ve bit off more than he can chew. Obviously, we’ll have to see the finished product. To me, the acting in particular, seemed not at one with the Shakespearean language. I couldn’t connect.
Yep. Mannered as all hell. Looks like the making of it was likely a fun wank with friends. Whedon fans might sit through it for a taste of the various Whedon-verse actors trying something new, but non-fans paying for at the box office as an legitimate adaptation?
Cool music and titles. What was that SPLAT sound effect at the end, though? It sounded like a foley sound of someone stepping into manure. Odd choice.
Love Amy Acker and Nathan Fillion. Fran Kranz not so much.
The “Splat” you’re hearing is actually the sound of an old style camera flash bulb going off.
I can’t wait for this, I’m very excited. Even if it’s not the greatest movie ever made I’m sure it will be a very fun watch.
Seriously? Amy and Fran are my two favorite Whedonverse actors. They both play strength and vulnerability so well.
Looks great. I am hopeful, but…. a similar hybrid, the Claire Danes Romeo and Juliet attempt years ago, failed miserably.
The “Claire Danes Romeo and Juliet” made $150M on a $15M budget. They’ve probably moved quite a few dvds/blurays/etc. I doubt Baz Luhrmann or FOX consider it to be a failure.
Your definition of failure must be rather… bizarre.
Failure? Seriously? The soundtrack sales alone more than paid for the movie, let alone actual box office take + years of VHS, DVD, digital and Bluray profits.
You and I define “failure” quite differently, my friend.
Buffy does Shakespeare. Oh dear.
Um…………. huh?
American actors should really STUDY the language of Shakespeare…. the trailer looks great until Alexis and Amy open their mouths
The only thing more insipid than that trailer are some of these “from friends” comments. It looks awful.
This play was never one of my favorites, but to watch Kenneth and Emma go at it is one of the great joys of Shakespeare on screen. This looks like a joke.
I don’t want to see much these days, but I want to see this. The buzz is really good–we’ll know more this weekend.
Well, it certainly lives up to its title.
This may not be your cup of tea, but why all the hate? Are you all saying Whedon should not expand his writing and directing capabilities? Are you all saying that he should just stick to making TV series and (now) Avenger movies?
The way I see, all he’s asking is for the audience to see something…different. If you don’t, I’m sure he’s not going to cry over it. It was made cheaply, at his house, and it should do well at the specialty box-office and make back it’s minor production cost. More so than Jack and the Giant Slayer will do.
Americans, in particular, have a tendency to want the same stuff again and again; the same cop show that Dragnet started; the same style sitcom Lucy made. We have to knock people down because they are doing things that do not fit in your ridged concrete box of what they should do again and again.
Why go see Much Ado About Nothing when we have the 47th Fast and the Furious film (not to mention the 304th Resident Evil)?
This is what Whedon feels right to do, and he doesn’t care one iota that you’ll never see it. Really, he doesn’t.
I can hear a whole island of Brits, laughing very hard. Sigh….
I like all those actors, but it was painful to watch them be…bad.
And yet, in the end, they are still Brits on an island of other Brits, so really the jokes on them isn’t it?
No. It really isn’t.
If you’d ever attended a performance at The Barbican with The Royal Shakespeare Company. You’d have an inkling of what I’m talking about.
And, no they are not Brits on top of other Brits. They are here now–booking all the pilots and features.
Try traveling farther than Fairfax or La Cienega.
Whedon is so full of himself after doing the Avengers he is starting to act like everything he will do from now on will be gold. Well we are here to remind you Mr. Whedon that the Avengers was average at best and certainly has little replay value and your other works aren’t great either.
Having seen it at TIFF, I’m confident many of you haters will be quite surprised by how great this turned out. I’m a mild Whedon fan with not much interest in Shakespeare, but enjoyed every second, and laughed throughout.
“Not much interest in Shakespeare…”
You are a very credible source then. Sign me up.
Yeah! And why are there women in this movie?? Benedict Cumberbatch should have played Beatrice! Shakespeare, and even filmed MODERN adaptations of Shakespeare should only be cast as they were 500 years ago. No women and Dark skinned people should only play Othello (and Aaron in Titus Andronicus and Prince of Morocco in Merchant of Venice and some of the Romans in Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra)… And you’re a moron.
are you sure this is not a movie by Doug Liman? i keep waiting for Vince Vaughn to show up…
Looks like Swingers meet Shakespeare
It looks way better than Leonardo’s ‘modernization’ of “Romeo and Juliette” a few years back, in any case. I’d give it shot – even though we zapped “The Avengers” after 15 mns.