Two of Hollywood’s most celebrated actors are transforming into Shakespeare’s most notorious couple. Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand star in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, a black-and-white re-imagining of William Shakespeare’s play for A24. Just days before the film has its New York Film Festival premiere on September 24, Apple released the first look at Washington and McDormand as Lord and Lady Macbeth.
The trailer gives a peek into the moody setting of Coen’s Macbeth, which follows the titular couple’s scheming for power over Scotland. It also includes one of the stage play’s most famous lines: “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes,” an ominous voiceover promises. Joining Washington and McDormand, who share five Oscars between them, are Corey Hawkins as Macduff, Moses Ingram as Lady Macduff, Harry Melling as Malcolm, Ralph Ineson as The Captain, and Brendan Gleeson as King Duncan.
“I think a very important thing about Joel’s adaptation is that we are not calling it Macbeth,” McDormand said in an Instagram Live last year, as reported by IndieWire. “We’re calling it The Tragedy of Macbeth, which I think is an important distinction. In Joel’s adaptation, we are exploring the age of the characters and in our adaptation the Macbeths are older.” She continued, “We’re postmenopausal, we’re past childbearing age. So that puts a pressure on their ambition to have the crown. I think the most important distinction is that it is their last chance for glory.”
From the cast to its source material, The Tragedy of Macbeth has all the makings of a major awards contender. It also marks a rare solo directing effort for Joel Coen after rumors of his brother Ethan’s retirement loomed last year. “Ethan just didn’t want to make movies anymore,” the duo’s frequent composer Carter Burwell said on the podcast Score (via Los Angeles Magazine) in reference to Macbeth. “Ethan seems to be very happy doing what he’s doing, and I’m not sure what Joel will do after [Macbeth].”
The Tragedy of Macbeth hits theaters on December 25 and will be available to stream via Apple TV+ on January 14, 2022.
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