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

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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 grief-stricken king, a wise old councillor, two treacherous brothers and a storm at sea into a fantastical conspiracy bringing banishment, sorcery and shipwreck into the lives of two hapless lovers to stir and seal their fate. Here Prospero takes female form as Prospera (Helen Mirren), giving her journey of vengeance and self-discovery a wholly new resonance. As Prospera breaks her magical staff against an entrancing volcanic landscape at the end of her heroic quest, this poignant story of love and forgiveness translates into a riveting and filmic mystical tale, for our own times.


The Tempest hits theaters December 10th.