I didn’t know Joss Whedon was venturing into Shakespeare world, but apparently, he’s taken on William Shakespeare’s classic “Much Ado About Nothing” and turned it into a modern, black-and-white indie film that became the official selection for the Toronto Film Festival 2012. <\/p>\n
The trailer for the film has now been released through Yahoo! Movies<\/a> and after watching it, I’m really interested to see how this film is through and through. There’s a lot of elements going on. First of all, we have Shakespearean lines. Secondly, we have black and white imagery. Third, and most importantly, we have several members of Whedon’s stable of actors–Clark Gregg, Nathan Fillion, Amy Acker and Fran Kranz, to name a few. Most of these names are from “Firefly”\/”Serenity” “The Cabin in the Woods,” “Marvel’s The Avengers” and films like that–films that are more in the fanboy region, to be blunt. It’s kind of a shock to the system. Fourth, there are no British accents, which is really interesting to listen to when people are saying Shakespearean lines. <\/p>\n You can see what you think at the link above or below. Perhaps I’m just being weird about it–I’m just used to Whedon being a comic book\/sci-fi guy. Not to say that he can’t delve into Shakespeare, but it definitely is a new side to him that we haven’t seen before. Also, make sure to check out the film’s Twitter page<\/a>. <\/p>\n “Synopsis: Leonato (Clark Gregg), the governor of Messina, is visited by his friend Don Pedro (Reed Diamond) who is returning from a victorious campaign against his rebellious brother Don John (Sean Maher). Accompanying Don Pedro are two of his officers: Benedick (Alexis Denisof) and Claudio (Fran Kranz). While in Messina, Claudio falls for Leonato’s daughter Hero (Jillian Morgese), while Benedick verbally spars with Beatrice (Amy Acker), the governor’s niece. The budding love between Claudio and Hero prompts Don Pedro to arrange with Leonato for a marriage.<\/p>\n In the days leading up to the ceremony, Don Pedro, with the help of Leonato, Claudio and Hero, attempts to sport with Benedick and Beatrice in an effort to trick the two into falling in love. Meanwhile, the villainous Don John, with the help of his allies: Conrade (Riki Lindhome) and Borachio (Spencer Treat Clark), plots against the happy couple, using his own form of trickery to try to destroy the marriage before it begins.<\/p>\n A series of comic and tragic events continue to keep the two couples from truly finding happiness, but then again perhaps love may prevail.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n