Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson will reunite for a star-studded adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear – their first shared screen time since 1993 film The Remains of the Day.

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Hopkins will play the titular leader in the modernised version of the play, where Lear rules over a totalitarian military dictatorship in England, with Thompson as his eldest daughter, Goneril.

The BBC2/Amazon co-production will also star BAFTA winner Emily Watson (Theory Of Everything) as Lear’s middle daughter Regan, and Florence Pugh (Lady Macbeth) as his youngest daughter Cordelia.

And the big names keep on coming. Jim Broadbent (Harry Potter, Game Of Thrones) will play the Earl of Gloucester, Sherlock star Andrew Scott his loyal son Edgar, and John Macmillan (Chewing Gum) his illegitimate son Edmund.

Former Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston will star as Oswald, Outlander’s Tobias Menzies will play the Duke of Cornwall and Jim Carter (Downton Abbey) will take on the role of the Earl of Kent. Anthony Calf (Riviera) and Karl Johnson (Rome) will also appear.

Notes on a Scandal director Richard Eyre will helm the project.

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Filming begins this month, with the production scheduled to air on BBC2 in 2018. Co-producer Amazon Prime Video will also air the drama in the UK following the BBC run.

Authors

Thomas LingStaff Writer, BBC Science Focus

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