Let us tell sad stories of the death of kings. And let the kings be played by the hottest guys in the land.
These four new productions of Shakespeare’s Richard II, Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2, and Henry V were produced last year by Sam Mendes for BBC Two. Yes, in this trailer you spot Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, David Morrissey, John Hurt, Patrick Stewart, Jeremy Irons, and Tom Hiddleston. (James Purefoy is in this, too, but I don’t see him in the trailer.)
Culture!
Already on DVD in Region 2, coming to DVD and VOD August 27 in Region 1.
Oh, I must buy this DVD! I’ve got the Branagh Henry V and the McKellan Richard III DVDs already, and had heard about the Hiddleston movie just recently, but I didn’t know that the dvds were coming out this quickly.
Thanks for letting me know of its existence, MaryAnn!
ETA: When I saw the crown spinning across the floor in the trailer, all I could think of was the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s portrayal of all of the historical Shakespeare plays as an extended football (US) game, with the crown being used as a football and tossed from king to king. Really quite hilarious!
ETA2: I just preordered it at Amazon, and according to them, it’s not being released in the States until September 17. Damn.
That could be wrong. The date I got from the publicist is Aug 27.
Whoa! This looks like the greatest thing since the BBC (I think) did the complete Shakespeare. Thanks so much for the heads up.
The trailer looks as if it’s cashing in on Game of Thrones, but yes… that’s an excellent cast, and I’ll be giving this a look.