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EXCLUSIVE: Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), Emmy Award winner Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Academy Award nominee LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah), Emmy Award winner Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), Chris Messina (Argo), Ted Levine (The Silence of the Lambs), Danny Huston (The Constant Gardener), Matthew Jacobs (Bar America), Rhys Coiro (Entourage) and Stephen Dorff (Blade) have joined Academy Award winners Al Pacino and Jessica Chastain in Bernard Rose’s Lear Rex, a film adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear.
Barry Navidi is the producer, marking his fifth collaboration with Pacino following The Merchant of Venice, Wilde Salomé, Salomé as well as this year’s Modi directed by Johnny Depp. Sharon Howard-Field, the film’s Casting Director, shares a long working history with Navidi. Navidi’s finance partners are Mattias Westman of Westman Films, Eco Entertainment, Dali Films and World Vision. CAA Media Finance is representing the North American rights, while Goodfellas is handling international sales. Principal photography will commence on August 12 in Los Angeles.
In Lear Rex, an aging King divides his land between his three daughters to prevent future conflict. But he rejects the young daughter who loves him and places his trust in her malevolent sisters, who strip him of his power and condemn him to a wretched wasteland of horror and insanity. With Pacino and Chastain set to play King Lear and Goneril respectively, DeBose will star as Cordelia, Brosnahan as Regan, Dinklage as the Fool, Huston as Albany, Messina as Cornwall, Stanfield as Edmund, Levine as Kent, Jacobs as Gloucester, Coiro as Oswald and Stephen Dorff as Poor Tom.
Writer and Director Rose said: “It is enormously exciting to get the opportunity to work with this extraordinary cast that Al, Barry and Sharon have put together to tackle this radical, but accessible adaptation of Shakespeare’s greatest play.”
Navidi added: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with Bernard Rose. His artistic vision, combined with a talented ensemble cast of players led by Al Pacino, promises to take us on a remarkable and unforgettable cinematic experience. We are merging the worlds of Shakespeare and Hollywood. This marks the commencement of an exciting new chapter, one that Al has poured his heart and soul into. It is a privilege for me to join forces with my dear friend once more, and to contribute to his enduring legacy.”
DeBose made her star turn as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, for which she received multiple accolades including an Academy Award. Upcoming feature films in 2024 include Blumhouse’s House of Spoils (Prime Video) and Sony Pictures’ Kraven The Hunter. She also stars opposite Ke Huy Quan in With Love (Universal) which will be released in 2025, and recently wrapped production on the feature film Tow opposite Rose Byrne and Demi Lovato.
Brosnahan is best known for her Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning role as Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel in Amazon Prime Video’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She will next be seen as Lois Lane in the upcoming Superman for Warner Bros.andin James Hawes’ The Amateur alongside Rami Malek and Laurence Fishburne.
Stanfield most recently starred in Sony’s The Book of Clarence, Haunted Mansion for Disney, and the Apple TV+ series The Changeling, which he also executive produced. In 2021, he was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in Judas and the Black Messiah. Upcoming projects include Play Dirty alongside Mark Wahlberg, Dermot Mulroney and Tony Shalhoub, starring and producing the film adaptation of El Paso, Elsewhere and lending his voice to the upcoming documentary, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found.
Dinklage is a four-time Emmy Award winner for his role as Tyrion Lannister in the HBO smash hit series Game of Thrones. He will next be seen as Dr. Dillamond in Wicked for Universal Pictures, Brothers alongside Josh Brolin and Brendan Fraser and upcoming Western The Thicket with Juliette Lewis and Ned Dennehy.
Messina most recently starred in Bleecker Street’s I.S.S., The Boogeyman for 20th Century Studios, Ben Affleck’s Air alongside Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Jason Batemanand Peacock’s Based on a True Story opposite Kaley Cuoco. Other notable credits include Affleck’s Academy Award-winning Argo as well as Hulu’s The Mindy Project. His next projects include We’re Just Married opposite Lily Rabe as well as Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2.
Levine most recently starred in Hulu’s Tiny Beautiful Things and Big Sky, AMC’s Mayfair Witches and The Alienist for Netflix. His film credits include blockbuster hits The Silence of the Lambs, Heat, Shutter Island, Wild Wild West, The Fast and the Furious and American Gangster to name a few. Next he is set to star in Francesco Lucente’s Starbright with John Rhys-Davies and Elisabeth Röhm.
Huston is most recognizable for roles in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men, Alejandro Inarritu’s 21 Grams and Fernando Meirelles’ The Constant Gardener alongside Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz. Upcoming projects include Raider opposite Aaron Eckhart, Ice Fall with Joel Kinnaman and Graham Greene, The Naked Gun with Liam Neeson, Kevin Durand and Paul Walter Hauser and The Crow with Bill Skarsgård.
Jacobs is best known for his extensive career writing for iconic television productions including The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones and Doctor Who: The Movie. He also directed the award-winning features Mothertime, Bar America and documentary Doctor Who Am I.
Coiro is globally renowned for his role as Billy Walsh in multiple seasons of smash hit series Entourage. He will next be seen in Running on Empty opposite Lucy Hale, Trust with Sophie Turner, Katey Sagal and Billy Campbell as well as TV series Gotta Guy and The Penguin for Max.
Dorff has a multitude of film credits to his name including hit titles Blade, Immortals and Somewhere. He currently has several upcoming projects including The Gunslingers opposite Nicolas Cage and Heather Graham and People Not Places with Shirley MacLaine.
Pacino, Chastain, Dinklage and Messina are represented by CAA. DeBose is repped by CAA, AC Management, The Lede Company7 and Ryan LeVine at Jackoway Austen Tyerman. Brosnahan is repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Stanfield is represented by CAA, Stark Management and Ginsburg Daniels Kallis. Levine by Kass Management, Huston by UTA and Julian Belfrage Associates, Jacobs by Independent Talent Group. Coiro by People Store and Paradigm Talent Agency and Dorff by Atlas Artists. Rose is repped by John Burnham and Casarotto Ramsay & Associates. Navidi is repped by attorney Bianca Goodloe, Goodloe Law.
