Epic International Trailer for Shakespeare Inspired War Film 'Coriolanus'

Coming this December, Ralph Fiennes stars in and directs the modern retelling of William Shakespeare's Coriolanus.  Fiennes plays Caius Martius Coriolanus, a feared and respected Roman general who's banished and chooses to align himself with his sworn enemy (Gerard Butler) to exact revenge on the city and its people.

Coriolanus is convinced by his overbearing, power hungry mother (Vanessa Redgrave) to seek a powerful Consul position, and must integrate himself with the masses, an idea he's in great opposition of.

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Production Photos from Ralph Fiennes' 'Coriolanus'

From Kino Gallery come a half-dozen new shots from Ralph Fiennes' upcoming Shakespearean adaptation, Coriolanus. Fiennes is making his directorial debut on a fairly auspicious scale - Shakespeare, war movie, updated to a war-torn Serbia.

As you might expect, Fiennes attracted a pretty good cast, which is even better because he's in it. Seriously, look at this filmography since the embarrassing Maid in Manhattan: The Constant Gardener, Wallace & Gromit, Harry Potter, In Bruges, The Duchess, The Hurt Locker, The Reader, the TV movie Bernard & Doris, which got him an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination, a handful of really indie projects...and Clash of the Titans. well. There's that. Hopefully, he used his salary to help make this movie. Gerard Butler, pictured above with the actor-director, joins Brian Cox and Vanessa Redgrave in the film, with Fiennes playing Coriolanus. The modernized Shakespeare movies just illustrate how great his writing was, and the closest cousin to this movie might be the Richard III starring Ian McKellen made about a decade ago. Good stuff. That film kept the original text, but I don't know if John Logan's screenplay has stripped the pentameter out or not.

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First On-Set Photos from Ralph Fiennes' 'Coriolanus'

Ralph Fiennes has been on a hell of a hot streak for the past few years. Roles in The Constant Gardener, In Bruges, The Duchess, The Hurt Locker, The Reader, and his great work as Voldemort in the Harry Potter series pretty much makes up for Maid in Manhattan. And now he's directing.

Fiennes is adapting Shakespeare's Coriolanus, using John Logan's script, and grabbing a good cast, too: Brian Cox, Gerard Butler, and Vanessa Redgrave, plus Fiennes in the title role. As you can tell from the new pictures, this isn't quite how Shakespeare envisioned Coriolanus, but that's the beauty of Shakespeare's plays. They're so thematically rich that they can be updated and updated and they never lose relevance. 30 Ninjas has the first set photos, and the guy behind the camera in the picture below is Barry Ackroyd, who lensed The Hurt Locker, conveniently enough. He's also been the cinematographer for Paul Greengrass' non-Bourne endeavors in the US, United 93 and Green Zone. So we're good to go on that front.

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'Hamlet' to Be Sung at Teenagers...In 3-D

My primary (OK, knee-jerk) argument about the viability of literary remakes, a category under which movie updates fall, is William Shakespeare. Where would dramatics be if Shakespeare hadn't been performed for the last 400 years, constantly evolving to meet the demands and standards of the times? No, Hollywood doesn't ask itself that question on most remakes, nor do I expect the Bluetooth-wearing greenlighters to be overly familiar with contemporary adaptation theory.

So, on the one hand I can't dog another set of film producers for dusting off Hamlet. It's probably the most influential piece of English literature ever written and one more remake is kind of like the Yankees hoisting another World Series trophy: They've already got 27, so what's the difference? On the other hand, though, I have to look at what Elsinore Films is doing with a skeptical eye: A musical Hamlet aimed at teens? My issue is only that thematically, Hamlet shouldn't be boiled down too much and it shouldn't necessarily be forced to fit a melody at the expense of the narrative. It could work, sure, but I'm not sure it will. Oh, did I mention it will also be in 3-D?

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Emile Hirsch is Catherine Hardwicke's 'Hamlet'

Whenever people say there are too many remakes - a position it is, admittedly, getting more difficult to oppose - I like to say there are just too many bad remakes. Just think of where we'd be if nothing that had ever been staged, be it play, TV show, or movie, was ever heard from again. Say goodbye to Shakespeare, I guess; if nobody had performed his works after their initial productions, we would have never heard of him.

There's another Shakespeare update coming, joining the ranks of some very good film versions in the past 20 years, both literal interpretations and wildly inventive modernizations. Catherine Hardwicke will tackle the granddaddy of 'em all, with Emile Hirsch as Hamlet.

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