Much Ado About Nothing was by far my favourite film at TIFF last year, and I can’t wait for it to get its wide release this summer.
Joss Whedon’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s play is nothing short of a masterpiece, and it instantly became one of my favourite films of all time when I saw it out in Toronto last September – you can read our five-star review here.
With the film’s release just a few months away, Yahoo Movies have debuted the first trailer, and it is every bit as beautiful as you’d expect.
Leonato (Clark Gregg), the governor of Messina, is visited by his friend Don Pedro (Reed Diamond), who is returning from a victorious campaign against his rebellious brother Don John (Sean Maher). Accompanying Don Pedro are two of his officers: Benedick (Alexis Denisof) and Claudio (Fran Kranz). While in Messina, Claudio falls for Leonato’s daughter Hero (Jillian Morgese), and Benedick verbally spars with Beatrice (Amy Acker), the governor’s niece. The budding love between Claudio and Hero prompts Don Pedro to arrange, with Leonato, their marriage.
In the days leading up to the ceremony, Don Pedro, with the help of Leonato, Claudio and Hero, attempts to sport with Benedick and Beatrice in an effort to trick the two into falling in love. Meanwhile, the villainous Don John, with the help of his allies Conrade (Riki Lindhome) and Borachio (Spencer Treat Clark), plots against the happy couple, using his own form of trickery to try to destroy the marriage before it begins. A series of comic and tragic events may continue to keep the two couples from truly finding happiness, but then again perhaps love may prevail.
Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker star in the leads as Benedick and Beatrice. And joining them for Much Ado About Nothing is a slew of Whedon’s frequent collaborators, led by Fran Kranz, Clark Gregg, Sean Maher, Jillian Morgese, Ashley Johnson, Tom Lenk, Reed Diamond, Emma Bates, and the ever-brilliant Nathan Fillion.
Whedon is directing from his own script, using the original text from Shakespeare and updating it to a contemporary setting.
He is of course coming off the back of The Avengers, which sky-rocketed at the box office, and really raised the bar for all superhero films to come. And since then, he’s been working on getting transitioning the Marvel Cinematic Universe onto the small screen with the S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot, as well as getting the script underway for The Avengers 2. Amazing. And thankfully, before all that happens, we can look forward to seeing Much Ado About Nothing getting the theatrical release it truly deserves.
There aren’t many filmmakers who go from directing one of the biggest films of all time to a micro-budgeted Shakespearean adaptation, shot in their own home in twelve days, in the same year. And it all just goes to show that Whedon is a true king among men.
Much Ado About Nothing will be getting a limited release in the US on 7th June, and is now officially set for a 14th June release here in the UK, before its wide US release date on 21st June. This is most definitely a must-see movie of the year. I can’t wait to be able to talk to everyone about it.
