So what’s former longtime James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli doing lately? Well, she’s behind a new adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Othello that David Oyelowo will direct and star in alongside Rachel Brosnahan and Cynthia Erivo. Gee, they’ve been in some pretty big movies lately, haven’t they?
Othello will mark Broccoli’s first post-Bond project, and it has secured financing in Qatar with plans to shoot in autumn 2026.
This version of Othello draws from Broccoli’s 2016 stage production directed by Sam Gold and starring Oyelowo, Brosnahan, and Daniel Craig. The story of the Moorish commander was moved from 17th-century Venice to a modern U.S. military barracks in Iraq.
With Oyelowo returning as Othello, and Brosnahan as Desdemona, Erivo will take on the role of Desdemona’s maid Emilia. It’s unclear if Craig will return as Iago, but Showbiz411 believes he is.
Othello has been adapted many times and in many different ways, including Orson Welles’ plagued 1951 film, a 1995 erotic thriller starring Laurence Fishburne, and Tim Blake Nelson’s high school-set drama, O, starring Mekhi Phifer, Josh Hartnett, and Julia Stiles.
