Chloe Zhao’s (Nomadland, Eternals) upcoming film, Hamnet, has been picked up by Focus Features, who is expected to be a creative partner on the project.
Hamnet is an adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel of the same name. The historical novel centers on Agnes, the wife of William Shakesphere, as she mourns the death of her son, Hamnet, and documents the emotional backdrop and themes of loss that would later inspire Hamlet.
The novel would later win the National Book Critics Circle Award and The Women’s Prize for Fiction, sell over 2 million copies in the U.S. and U.K., and be translated into 40 different languages.
Zhao co-adapted the script with O’Farrell, according to multiple sources, with Liza Marshall (Mary and George, Temple), Pippa Harris (Empire of Light, 1917), Sam Mendes (1917, Skyfall) and Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans, Schindler’s List) serving as producers. Kristie Macosko Krieger (The Fabelmans, The Trial of the Chicago 7), Nic Gonda (The Tree of Life, Knight of Cups) and Laurie Borg (Foundation, Peaky Blinders) will also be working on Hamnet as executive producers.
In 2021, Zhao became the first woman of color and first Asian to win an Oscar for Best Director (Nomadland).
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The film will also star Paul Mescal (Aftersun, Normal People) and Jessie Buckley (Women Talking, The Last Daughter), as William and Agnes Shakesphere respectively. In addition, Joe Alwyn (Harriet, The Favourite) and Emily Watson (Chernobyl, Punch-Drunk Love) have been cast in undisclosed roles.
According to Variety, Focus Features is expected to release Hamnet in the U.S. on a “yet-to-be-determined date”. The worldwide distribution will be handles by Universal Pictures.
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