Riz Ahmed is finally making his modern-day Hamlet movie

Ahmed's Shakespeare adaptation was first announced in 2017

By Katie Chow | May 11, 2022 | 8:53pm

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Riz Ahmed is finally making his modern-day Hamlet movie

Riz Ahmed Photo: Mike Coppola

Riz Ahmed’s long-gestating Hamlet film is finally happening. The modern-day Shakespeare adaptation, first announced in 2017, is moving forward with director Aneil Karia.

“This is a Hamlet about race, mental health and inequality, which asks if setting things right means setting fire to the old order,” the duo say, as reported by Variety. “Our Hamlet is an outsider in a wealthy British Indian family, who starts to question his relatives’ morality and his own sanity after encountering his father’s ghost. Hamlet’s bloody quest for revenge against his father’s killer will be told with a boldness and urgency that grabs hold of audiences and won’t let go.”

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Ahmed and Karia recently won the best live-action short film Oscar for The Long Goodbye, a companion piece to Ahmed’s album of the same name. The multi-hyphenate was nominated for best actor in 2021 for Sound Of Metal and previously earned an Emmy for his role on The Night Of.

“We want to continue what we started with The Long Goodbye, in telling a story that is both totally grounded and authentic but then pushes into action, thriller, genre, and poetry,” their statement continues. “We’ve both felt on the outside of Shakespeare, but as South Asians also deeply connect to what these stories are about–themes like family, honor, and duty. So, our aim is to bring Hamlet to life by setting it in our own community. We want to crack this timeless story open for a wider audience–with a diverse cast, a contemporary London setting, and by injecting classical verse with the energy of rap, a genre which we have both worked in for years.”

Hamlet will co-star Morfydd Clark as Ophelia and Joe Alwyn as Laertes. As announced in 2017, screenwriter Michael Lesslie remains attached to the project.

The film was originally going to be a Netflix production, but will now be hitting the market at Cannes. Ahmed has a first-look deal for television at Prime Video.

The actor/rapper has a busy schedule coming up. He was also recently announced as starring in Fingernails, opposite Jessie Buckley, and is set to appear in the adaptation of Mohsin Hamid’s novel Exit West. He’ll also have a voice role in Nimona. With any luck, Ahmed will also have time to make another Swet Shop Boys album.