Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Chris3123, Nov 30, 2012.

  1. Chris3123

    Chris3123 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Coming to theaters next year:

    Link

    And what would a proper Joss Whedon production be without some familiar faces? Here are the members of the cast who have had significant roles in his previous works:

    Amy Acker (Angel, Dollhouse) as Beatrice
    Alexis Denisof (Buffy/Angel, Dollhouse, The Avengers) as Benedick
    Nathan Fillion (Firefly/Serenity, Buffy, Dr. Horrible) as Dogberry
    Clark Gregg (The Avengers) as Leonato
    Fran Kranz (Dollhouse, Cabin in the Woods) as Claudio
    Tom Lenk (Buffy, Cabin in the Woods) as Verges
    Sean Maher (Firefly/Serenity) as Don John
    Reed Diamond (Dollhouse) as Don Pedro

    Those familiar with both Much Ado... and Angel may notice a significance to the casting of the Beatrice and Benedick roles. To illustrate, an image from the movie:

    [​IMG]

    I wouldn't normally care about a Shakespeare adaptation, but I'm definitely going to see this. :techman:
     
  2. Skellington

    Skellington Part-time poltergeist Rear Admiral

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    It seems to be taking a while to get released, given that he went into it pretty much straight from The Avengers. It ought to be doing some business on DVD / Blu-ray / digital home release by now.

    Hope it's good.
     
  3. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I'm likely to check it out but summer seems an odd slot for it really, even as counter programming.

    I would've thought a Feb type release might give it more exposure. It's just going to be lost, most likely, among summer films. Of course summer always needs, or we want, a Moonrise Kingdom to find an audience.
     
  4. cardinal biggles

    cardinal biggles A GODDAMN DELIGHT Moderator

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    I've been waiting to see this for over a year, ever since Nathan Fillion tweeted about it. July seems like forever, but I'm sure it'll be worth the wait. I'm a huge fan of the 1993 Branagh version of Much Ado, so I'll be interested to see what an American director and cast bring to the table.
     
  5. st.barthgirl

    st.barthgirl Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    So, My Rock must have been in Full Shadow: JW did Avengers?

    The Only ones Missing from Much Ado are SMG and Doogie... But i think Doogie might've been on Vacay with the Kids and Elton...

    i LOVED the KB Version. Even with Keanu. JW's is a Must-See... i wonder if it's Musical, Silent, or Satire?
     
  6. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Is Joss keeping the actual Shakespearean dialogue?
     
  7. PsychoPere

    PsychoPere Vice Admiral Premium Member

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    He did, yes. Joss and some of his "regulars" (writers and cast both) have been doing Shakespeare readings at his house for over a decade prior to deciding to film this adaptation.
     
  8. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    He didn't go into it "straight from Avengers" he actually filmed this over a two week period while still filming "Avengers" as was originally reported when news of this first came out in the summer time. I've been very much looking forward to this, as it's my favourite work of Shakespeare.
     
  9. ManOnTheWave

    ManOnTheWave Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Been looking forward to this since Teh Whedon announced it last year. It's frustrating to have to wait another seven months to see this thing released, particularly since it will probably not hit Local art house theatres until several months after its official release if it shows up at all (just seems to be the way many of these smaller films play out, at least locally.) Nevertheless, I'm quite looking forward to this one because of the director, the cast, and WTF, it's a Shakespeare movie.
     
  10. st.barthgirl

    st.barthgirl Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    it's one of my favorites, too...

    Funny how Shakespeare and Trek go Hand In Hand...

    i've been reading a bit about the question of Shakespeare's identity lately... but i'm new to the debate. i think Edward de Vere is a likely candidate... if we ever identified him as a woman, i wouldn't be surprised: it's in the Name: Spear=Male Distaff= Female... 'shaking' the 'Spear" could be a hint that the author was shrugging off the burden of Male dominance? Just a Thought... Fun Mystery.

    Any opinions on who Shakespeare was?
     
  11. Skellington

    Skellington Part-time poltergeist Rear Admiral

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    Not according to IMDb or any other sources I've encountered, which agree that it shot after principal photography on the Avengers movie had ended.
     
  12. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    That's cool. I totally love it when Shakespeare's works are filmed and put in a modern setting, but the dialogue is kept intact (for instance, Romeo + Juliet set in present day California, Hamlet in New York City, and - assuming the sumbitch ever makes it out of development hell - Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen's The Merchant of Vegas).
     
  13. PsychoPere

    PsychoPere Vice Admiral Premium Member

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    Yeah, it was a twelve-day period (a week off from Marvel, plus two weekends) after principal photography wrapped on Avengers but prior to post-production. So, Much Ado was put together while work on Avengers was underway but after filming had stopped.
     
  14. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

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    Well, Shakespeare in modern settings disturbs me (I REALLY like period costume pieces!), but Shakespeare is Shakespeare, and Joss is Joss, so I'm sure it'll be great.
     
  15. Warp Coil

    Warp Coil Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I've been wondering when this would ever see the light of day. I figured that it would eventually end up online or on DVD, but I'm glad that it's getting a theatrical release. I'm pretty sure the budget on this thing was miniscule, so almost all the money it makes in the theaters would be profit.
     
  16. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    My mistake about the production. When it was first originally reported, people were genuinely surprised that Joss had time to film this. No details had really come out about it yet at the time.

    Yeah it made it's debut at TIFF (Toronto Film Festival) this year, I expected a theatrical release sometime next year after the film festival debut.
     
  17. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    He was William Shakespeare. Period. I've never come across an alternate-authorship theory that didn't fall apart when subjected to scrutiny.
     
  18. DigificWriter

    DigificWriter Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Much Ado is my favorite Shakespearean work, and I've been looking forward to this 'finding a home' somewhere since word of it being filmed first came out, so it's great to see it get a release date and a studio willing to put it out there. The thing that intrigues me most about seeing the film is that it's a modernization of the story with the original dialogue intact, and I'm interested to see how Joss made things work in that regard, since one of the things that I enjoy most about Shakespeare's works is that they're incredibly versatile and lend themselves very easily to a myriad of different interpretations/stagings on both the stage and the screen.
     
  19. FPAlpha

    FPAlpha Vice Admiral Premium Member

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    Shakespeare's works are universal.. they're not period victorian plays but about the human condition in general and we basically struggle with the same emotions and problems people have been for centuries and millennia.

    I am really looking forward to this.. seeing a bunch of my favorite TV actors concentrated in one play led by Whedon.. it's gonna be awesome! :techman:
     
  20. Gaith

    Gaith Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ^ Are they, though, or are we just so used to seeing them freely transposed that we've come to accept it as natural?


    [​IMG]


    ;)