It seems that Al Pacino has long had a Napoleon complex. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he's cherished the idea of playing the famous French emperor for years, and is now getting his chance by signing on to play Bonaparte in "Betsy and the Emperor."
Directed by John Curran ("The Painted Veil") from a screenplay by Brian Edgar, the independent film will be based on the children's book by Staton Rabin. It's based on the true story of Lucia Elizabeth Balcombe, whose father was Napoleon's jailer during his exile on St. Helena. The two struck up a friendship and rumors flew that the exiled Emperor was romancing the teenager, though they have never been proven. Read more...
"King Lear" is one of those starring roles that actors are supposed to dread -- at least according to my Shakespeare professor. Apparently, once you're old enough to play Lear, you're done and there are no more great roles left for you.
Either Al Pacino is comfortable with that, or he doesn't bother with such silly fears, because Variety reports that he's taking on the role of the aged king for Michael Radford. "Al has been offered this role many times over the years, but didn't feel ready," says the film's producer Barry Navidi said. "He's ready now."
Working with Radford probably helps -- the director and actor previously tackled Shakespeare together for "The Merchant of Venice" in 2004.
You know the story -- "King Lear" is one of Shakespeare's darkest plays, where an aged king decides to divide his kingdom up among his three daughters, offering the largest share to the one who loves him best. Two of his daughters connive and flatter him, while his youngest, Cordelia, refuses to put her affection to such a test. The story is a descent into atrocity and horror, and may just have the bleakest ending in all of literature.
We might treated to some off-camera drama as well -- Pacino's "Lear" is now the second in production, and will be a rival to Anthony Hopkins' performance, who will play Lear for director Joshua Michael Stern, and be father to Keira Knightley, Naomi Watts, and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Both productions are taking the traditional approach, and will be set in England's Dark Ages. I sense a publicity race around the corner.
MTV readers, who is your preferred King Lear -- Hopkins or Pacino? Which adaptation do you want to see more?
FROM MTV.COM: Meet Tom "Turk" Cowan (Robert De Niro). Turk loves his job. He loves the way it allows him to combine his fiercest passion with his favorite activity. "I hate scumbags," he says. "And I like killing people."
Turk is a cop, and a hothead, and over the course of his 30 years as a detective with the NYPD, he and his genial, wisecracking partner, David "Rooster" Fisk (Al Pacino), have put away a lot of scumbags. Lately, though, it appears that Turk has been freelancing, too. We know this from the very beginning of "Righteous Kill," because the movie opens with a videotaped interrogation (which also serves as narration for the rest of the picture) in which Turk, looking straight into the camera, confesses to doing a number of very bad things. Read More On MTV.com
Poor Brian Williams. Anyone who has the good fortune to interview folks on a regular basis can sympathize with the dozens of awkward silences in the below chat. It's not Brian's fault. He's smooth and quick and funny but he's saddled with an impossible task: making one of the great TV interview coups (Pacino AND DeNiro together for the first time!) kinda watchable. Of course Pacino is a famously difficult interview. DeNiro is notorious as perhaps the worst. And by the way it's actually 32 mostly excruciating minutes. I watched all of it. Can you?
It can't be anywhere in the league "Heat" but let's hope it's at least a little better than say, "Showtime," alright? Yes, DeNiro and Pacino are at it again, and this time they've brought 50 Cent along for the ride. The cop flick (you were expecting a musical comedy?) opens September 12. In the meantime take a gander at the poster.
