Sam Mendes, previously named as the director, is producing the project.
Chloé Zhao’s next project in her career has been long awaited, after winning multiple Academy Awards for “Nomadland” and taking a break from directing the Marvel movie “Eternals.” Zhao’s new movie has finally been revealed. Deadline has announced that the director will direct the “Hamnet” adaptation.
“Hamnet” will be based on Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling historical fiction novel of the same name. The novel tells the story of Agnes, the wife of the famous playwright William Shakespeare, after the death of their only son, Hamnet. The story “draws to life the emotional, familial and artistic consequences of this loss, bringing to life a human and heart-stopping story as the backdrop for the creation of Shakespeare’s most famous play, Hamlet.”
Zhao will co-write the adaptation with the novel’s author, O’Farrell. This will be O’Farrell’s first time working on a movie, but the writer’s talent has already been proven. For Hamnet alone, she won the 2020 Women’s Fiction Award and, among others, the National Book Critics Circle’s Fiction Award.
Hamnet will be produced by Amblin Partners, Hera Pictures, Neal Street Productions, and Book of Shadows. Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, and Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes will produce for Neal Street, while Nic Gonda will serve as executive producer for Book of Shadows.
It was previously heard that the Hamnet adaptation would be directed by Sam Mendes and starring Tom Holland. After Chloe Zhao took the director’s chair, no statement was made about the lead role.
