Whoa! Last year it was announced that actor Ralph Fiennes would be making his debut as a director on a contemporary adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play Coriolanus. At the time, we didn’t actually know how contemporary it would be, but thanks to these first photos from the set in Serbia, it looks like Fiennes has actually set his film around the Iraq war. Action blog 30 Ninjas has the scoop on the photos, which come from the first week’s battle scenes in the Serbian city of Pancevo. Fiennes is also starring in this as the lead along with Gerard Butler, Brian Cox, William Hurt, Eddie Marsan, Jessica Chastain & Vanessa Redgrave.

Obviously comparisons are already being made to The Hurt Locker, especially because that took home the Best Picture Oscar earlier this year, and an Iraq war movie combined with Shakespeare instantly sounds like more Oscar bait. The story in Coriolanus follows Roman military leader Caius Martius, who returns home from a war against the Volscans as a war hero with a new last name, Coriolanus, given for the city which he conquered. However, he is banished from Rome as a traitor. Coriolanus then allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city of Rome. I’m not sure how that will fit into the Iraq war, but I’m already excited.

Ralph Fiennes will begin shooting his directorial debut Coriolanus next week.

The award-winning British actor will also star in the historic epic alongside Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Cox when filming begins in Belgrade, Serbia, on March 17.

Ralph, who is also producing the big-screen adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, will star as revered Roman General Coriolanus, at odds with the city of Rome and his fellow citizens.

Pushed by his controlling mother Volumnia (Vanessa) to enter the Senate, he is loath to ingratiate himself with the masses, despite needing their votes to secure a Senate seat.

When the public refuse to support him, Coriolanus’s anger prompts a riot which culminates in his expulsion from Rome. The banished hero then allies himself with his sworn enemy Tullus Aufidius (Gerard) to take his revenge on the city.

The cast also features John Kani, Paul Jesson, James Nesbitt, Ashraf Barhom, Lubna Azabal and Jessica Chastain – soon to be seen in Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life and John Madden’s The Debt – as Coriolanus’s wife Virgilia.

Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd and Oscar-winning sound mixer Ray Beckett, who both worked on The Hurt Locker, are among the crew.

source: The Press Association