EXCLUSIVE:The Veteranshas boarded sales for anAFMlaunch on Bernard Roses Shakespeare adaptationLear Rex,starring Al Pacinoas tragic monarch King Lear alongside Jessica Chastain as his villainous, power-hungry, oldest daughter Goneril.
Principal photography is completed on the picture, the all-star castfor which also features Emmy winner Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) as Lears second malevolent daughter Regan; Academy-Award Winner Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)as the kings beloved youngest daughter Cordelia, who he erroneously banishes; Emmy Winner Peter Dinklage (Game Of Thrones,Cyrano) as the Fool, and Lakeith Stanfield (The Book Of Clarence) as the scheming figure of Edmund.
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Further cast members include Ted Levine as Kent, Mathew Jacobs as Gloucester, Danny Huston as Albany, Chris Messina as Cornwall, Stephen Dorff as Poor Tom and Rhys Coiro as Oswald.
Al Pacino and Jessica ChastainGetty/Giampaolo Sgura
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Rose, who started out making music videos for iconic pop tunes such as Bronski Beats Why and Smalltown Boy and Frankie Goes To Hollywoods Relax, has built up a varied filmography over the past 40 years from horrors such asPaperhouseandCandymanto adaptations such asAnna KareninaandFrankensteinto the recent British-Japanese action pictureSamurai Marathon.
The production reunites Pacino and Chastain for the first time since the formers 2011 docudramaWilde Salome, with that collaboration sparked by their appearing together in a stage production of Oscar Wildes 1891 play Salome.
The film is produced by Barry Navidi and is his fifth collaboration with Pacino afterThe Merchant of Venice(2004) in which Pacino played Shylock,Wilde Salome(2011), andSalome(2013) and recentlyModi (2024), which is directed by Johnny Depp.
The official synopsis for RosesLear Rexreads: An aging king decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters to prevent future strife.
But after testing their devotion, he banishes the youngest, Cordelia, who truly loves him, placing his trust in her flattering but malevolent sisters, Goneril and Regan, who strip him of his power and condemn him to wander in a wasteland of horror and insanity.
