Al Pacino to star as ‘King Lear’ in new film adaptation

After years of rumors, its finally happening. Al Pacino will be taking on the role of King Lear! An upcoming film is going to be the adaptation of the Shakespearean play. This character is considered as one of the most coveted and iconic roles.

As being reported the film will begin shooting next year, with Al Pacino in the titular role. It will be directed by Michael Radford, who is an Oscar nominated director for Il Postino.

Pacino and Radford are reuniting with producer Barry Navidi, they previously worked with him on critically acclaimed ‘The Merchant of Venice’.

In a statement, Michael Radford said, “Lear is the one that everyone aims for. Al has been toying with the idea for a long time. There’s a difference between Shylock, who’s only in five scenes, and Lear, who is in every scene, pretty much”.

Producer Barry Navidi, who has also worked on The Merchant of Venice, said, “Before, we had the passion and the desire, but we never had a start date. We all have the energy to do ‘King Lear’ now. We’re creating, hopefully, an epic. Michael and Al are going to stick to the original poetry. But a lot is to do with the delivery and the visuals. How Michael combines it and makes it more accessible, it becomes naturalistic rather than forced.”

King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It depicts the gradual descent into madness of the title character, after he disposes of his kingdom by giving bequests to two of his three daughters egged on by their continual flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all.

Al Pacino has made his name by playing few iconic roles in the Hollywood films like The Godfather, Scarface and Serpico. With this King Lear film he would be following in the footsteps of Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles, and taking on one of the world’s most coveted acting roles.

Pacino is next slated to appear in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. In which he is playing the agent of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Rick Dalton.