One of my favorite fake news stories from “The Onion” reports on a Shakespeare director who makes the bold decision to set his play in the time and place intended by the author. Anyone who has seen a lot of Shakespeare on television, in movies, and on the stage knows that it’s tough to find a version that hasn’t been updated or contemporized. I’ve seen Taming of the Shrew set in the Old West (it was pretty awesome, too) and Merchant of Venice done in Versace suits (not so much) but it’s rare to see a Romeo and Juliet set in “ancient Verona” rather than contemporary Verona Beach.
Thankfully, Mandalay Pictures is not going to buck recent trends. According to Variety, the studio has purchased the rights to Julius, a graphic novel based on Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The comic book, written by Antony Johnston and illustrated by Brett Weldele, sets the story of Caesar’s death at the hands of Brutus, Cassius, and other Roman leaders, not in Rome just before the birth of Christ, but in a modern London. Julius is a gang leader who consolidates all of the crime in the East End under his oversight and is undermined by his lieutenants.
F. Gary Gray, who impressed us with The Italian Job, will direct. According to Mandalay president Cathy Schulman, Gray "has a vision for this adaptation that will satirize obsessive consumerism while providing a thrilling ride for audiences." I don’t remember obsessive consumerism being a theme in the original play. I always thought it was more about honor, fear, collective good, and the like, but I’m sure obsessive consumerism was also on the Bard’s mind.
