William Shakespeare

Exclusive look at William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back

What if William Shakespeare wrote Star Wars? It would probably go a little something like this. After the first book’s popularity, author Ian Doescher has re-imagined The Empire Strikes Back with a Shakespearian twist. And we’ve got an exclusive first look at some of your favorite scenes. https://gizmodo.com/what-if-shakespeare-wrote-star-wars-alas-poor-stormt-513417007 Scene 1. The Ice world of Hoth.…

io9 Meredith Woerner

Terminator 2 reenacted entirely with lines from Shakespeare

Terminator 2 and William Shakespeare: What could be better? This trailer for the stage production Terminator the Second shows us what happens when you blend robots from the future with the Bard. More than two years ago, Nashville performance collective Husky Jackal Theater launched a Kickstarter campaign to perform and film their parody performance. The…

io9 Lauren Davis

What if Shakespeare wrote Star Wars? “Alas, poor Stormtrooper!”

What if William Shakespeare took a crack at Star Wars? Just imagine the classic Wookie and R2-D2 chess scene re-written as a Greek chorus. We’ve got an exclusive look inside the pages of Shakespeare’s Star Wars, by Ian Doescher. And yes, it’s got the “Alas, poor Stormtrooper” line. Act III Scene 6. Space, aboard the…

Movies Meredith Woerner

Natalie Portman to play Lady Macbeth… with Michael Fassbender

Hot damn, this is going to be good. Rumor has it Natalie Portman has agreed to play Lady Macbeth in the big screen adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. But wait, it gets so much better, Michael Fassbender will play her hubby. Let the hot villainous sex-scheming begin! Screen Daily is reporting that Portman is in…

Movies Meredith Woerner

Jack Kirby — the co-creator of Thor and the X-Men — once designed costumes for a college Shakespeare play

Comic book legend Jack Kirby was responsible for the iconic looks of such famous superheroes as Captain America, Hulk, the X-Men, Thor, and the Fantastic Four. But back in the 1960s, Kirby put his mark on the Bard when a theater group at the University of California at Santa Cruz asked the famed artist to…

Books & Comics Cyriaque Lamar

A scene from Battleship, rewritten by William Shakespeare

Battleship is fun, if fluffy entertainment, and it’s hardly the works of Shakespeare. But what if a scene from Battleship was, in fact, penned by the Bard? Yoni Brenner provided this Shakespearean parody, which actually functions as a pointed review of Battleship rather than straight satire. Instead of earnestly translating Battleship into iambic pentameter (which,…

Movies Lauren Davis

The Batman/Hamlet crossover that never was

In 1996, author Steve Englehart wrote a 96-page pitch for DC Comics’ alternate reality Elseworlds imprint. Titled “The Tragedy of Batman, Prince of Denmark,” this comic took the superhero and placed him smack dab in the midst of William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy. Unfortunately, DC Comics decided not to publish Steve’s treatment. But fortunately for us,…

io9 Steve Englehart

Orson Scott Card’s Hamlet: Not as Good as Shakespeare’s Version

You have to hand it to Ender’s Game author Orson Scott Card. He already reworked Iron Man’s origin so that Tony Stark’s entire body is made out of brain matter that lets him regenerate severed extremities. And now Card has rebooted Shakespeare’s Hamlet. What could possibly go wrong? Top image: Detail from cover of Ender…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

Is Shakespeare in the Park channeling Superman this year?

I have to confess, I’ve never really liked Superman. I find DC Comics’ flagship enterprise to be, ultimately, boring. Some of you will probably feel (and this is correct) that I just haven’t read enough of the series, or found the proper arcs. But my main problem is that Superman, himself, seems too perfect: he’s…

io9 Dan Venning

Should we dig up Shakespeare’s body to find out if he smoked pot?

That’s the question currently before the Church of England, as an archaeologist has proposed examining William Shakespeare’s remains. If nothing else, this is our chance to find out whether Shakespeare wrote the greatest works in the English language…on weed. South African archaeologist Francis Thackeray says he recently submitted the relevant proposals to the Church of…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Gnomeo & Juliet clips recreate the infamous Shakespearean balcony scene — with garden gnomes

We thought we’d seen every weird and zany translation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet — but we were wrong. We give you the first ever clips from Gnomeo and Juliet, the story of two star-crossed CG animated garden gnomes. Our only question now is: How do two ceramic gnomes off themselves? Gnomeo & Juliet…

Movies Meredith Woerner

In this exclusive preview of Kill Shakespeare, Iago and Othello duke it out (again)

Here’s an exclusive first look at the latest issue of IDW’s Kill Shakespeare, a fantasy miniseries about the Bard’s creations taking arms against him. In this preview, things become extremely real between Othello and that meddling Iago. The issue hits stores Wednesday, December 22. Here’s the solicitation information: Kill Shakespeare #8 (of 12) Conor McCreery,…

Books & Comics Cyriaque Lamar

Coolest Shakespeare Riffs in Science Fiction and Fantasy

With The Tempest, opening tomorrow, Julie Taymor and Helen Mirren bring a splashy fantasy vibe to the Bard. But science fiction and fantasy have been playing with Shakespeare forever. Here are the greatest Shakespeare homages and cover versions in SF. Romeo And Juliet: The War: Stan “The Man” Lee’s latest project, this comic retells the…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders and Lauren Davis

Watch as the sorcerer’s daughter falls for a prince, in an exclusive clip from Julie Taymor’s The Tempest

In this exclusive clip from Julie Taymor’s The Tempest, Prince Ferdinand falls in love-at-first-glance with Prospera (Helen Mirren)’s daughter Miranda. Nobody writes young lovers like Shakespeare, especially when his prose is brought to life by these flaxen-haired beauties. The Tempest hits theaters December 10th.

io9 Meredith Woerner

Check out some gorgeous stills from Hollywood’s gender swapped Tempest remake

We love it when Hollywood remakes a Shakespeare classic — sans teeny-bopper trappings. We’re especially tickled by The Tempest’s decision to gender-swap the magical “Prospera,” so Helen Mirren could be cast. Check out a collection of new Tempest stills. Here’s the official synopsis. In her big-screen adaptation of Shakespeare’s mystical thriller “The Tempest,” Academy Award®–nominated…

Movies Meredith Woerner

Michael Caine cast in apocalyptic retelling of Shakespeare’s Henry 5

Micheal Caine has joined a large group of drama pros in a science fiction retelling of Henry V, set on the edge of the apocalypse. Production Weekly’s twitter alerted us to the existence of this strange apocalyptic Shakespearean story. First off, check out the talent attached to the film; Michael Caine (The Dark Knight), Ray…

Movies Meredith Woerner

The gender-swapping, hyper-stylized trailer for Shakespeare’s The Tempest

We never thought we’d see Russell Brand in a Shakespeare film, and yet here he is in the first ever trailer for Julie” Across The Universe” Taymor’s gender-flopped Tempest translation. Watch Helen Mirren, as Prospera, summon the elements of magic! Here’s the official synopsis: In Shakespeare’s fantastical thriller the magician Prospero orchestrates spirits, monsters, a…

Movies Meredith Woerner

Great moments in alternate history: Shakespeare and friends

The Elizabethan era has everything: the mysterious lost years of William Shakespeare, his playwright/spy contemporary, and multiple plots to destroy England, and we haven’t even gotten to the alternate history yet. If you deal with the Elizabethan era, you have to deal with Shakespeare obviously — Poul Anderson’s A Midsummer Tempest deals with an alternate…

Books & Comics David Daw

Futuristic Macbeth Is Waiting For Anthony Stewart Head

A truly bizarre-sounding “futuristic” adaptation of Macbeth is stuck in post-production, as the filmmakers wait for Anthony Stewart Head, who plays Duncan, to return for reshoots. During a conference call promoting his new series Merlin, the shooting schedule for which is preventing him from doing any more work on Macbeth, Head seemed slightly passive-aggressive as…

Movies Alasdair Wilkins

Exclusive look at William Shakespeare’s The Empire Striketh Back

Terminator 2 reenacted entirely with lines from Shakespeare

What if Shakespeare wrote Star Wars? “Alas, poor Stormtrooper!”

Natalie Portman to play Lady Macbeth… with Michael Fassbender

Jack Kirby — the co-creator of Thor and the X-Men — once designed costumes for a college Shakespeare play

A scene from Battleship, rewritten by William Shakespeare

The Batman/Hamlet crossover that never was

Orson Scott Card’s Hamlet: Not as Good as Shakespeare’s Version

Is Shakespeare in the Park channeling Superman this year?

Should we dig up Shakespeare’s body to find out if he smoked pot?

Gnomeo & Juliet clips recreate the infamous Shakespearean balcony scene — with garden gnomes

In this exclusive preview of Kill Shakespeare, Iago and Othello duke it out (again)

Coolest Shakespeare Riffs in Science Fiction and Fantasy

Watch as the sorcerer’s daughter falls for a prince, in an exclusive clip from Julie Taymor’s The Tempest

Check out some gorgeous stills from Hollywood’s gender swapped Tempest remake

Michael Caine cast in apocalyptic retelling of Shakespeare’s Henry 5

The gender-swapping, hyper-stylized trailer for Shakespeare’s The Tempest

Great moments in alternate history: Shakespeare and friends

Futuristic Macbeth Is Waiting For Anthony Stewart Head

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