If one Joss Whedon news piece in one week isn’t enough for you, here’s another. Yes the Avengers director and creator of the best TV programme of all time (Buffy) has wrapped principal photography on a new adaptation of the Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing. The news broke last night when Nathan Fillion (Castle, Firefly) broke the news via his Twitter.
The website features a single photograph of a man in scuba gear holding a martini with the cast list above. The cast features a shed load of Whedon alum including Nathan Fillion, Amy Acker, Sean Maher, Tom Lenk, Alexis Denisof, Ashley Johnson, Fran Kranz and the soon-to-be alum Clark Gregg (Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Agent Phil Coulson). The news was later confirmed by both Sean Maher and Nathan Fillion as being “real, so real.”
The Shakespearean comedy follows Benedick and Beatrice and Claudio and Hero, two pairs of lovers with unconventional views on love. The film doesn’t yet have a distribution company backing it. Shakespearean aficionado Kenneth Branagh was the last to adopt the play for the screen in 1993. It seems to me, the play is due an updated movie adaptation, and Whedon’s the best man for it. As always.
Update! We now have a press release with cast list including who they’re playing. Amy and Alexis are Beatrice and Benedick with Nathan playing the wonderful Dogberry.
Amy Acker – Beatrice
Alexis Denisof – Benedick
Nathan Fillion – Dogberry
Clark Gregg – Leonato
Reed Diamond – Don Pedro
Fran Kranz – Claudio
Sean Maher – Don John
Spencer Treat Clark – Borachio
Riki Lindhome – Conrade
Ashley Johnson – Margaret
Emma Bates – Ursula
Tom Lenk – Verges
Nick Kocher – First Watchman
Brian McElhaney – Second Watchman
Joshua Zar – Leonato’s aide
Paul M. Meston – Friar Francis
Romy Rosemont – The Sexton
And introducing Jillian Morgese as Her
It also states that the film is shot entirely in black and white and filmed in just 12 days in Santa Monica.
