Roland Emmerich Tackles Shakespeare for New Movie

Director Roland Emmerich usually destroys the world in his movies, which include Independence Day, 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow, but in his next film, he’ll leave behind explosions and CGI effects for something a little more intellectual. The project, titled Anonymous, is based on the idea that the works of the William Shakespeare were actually written by the Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere.

The director described the film in a recent interview with Empire Online. “It’s a mix of a lot of things: it’s an historical thriller because it’s about who will succeed Queen Elizabeth and the struggle of the people who want to have a hand in it. It’s the Tudors on one side and the Cecils on the other, and in between [the two] is the Queen. Through that story we tell how the plays written by the Earl of Oxford ended up labelled ‘William Shakespeare’.”

Emmerich also revealed some of the cast, which includes Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Elizabeth, David Thewlis as William Cecil and Rhys Ifans as de Vere. “It’s a true English cast and I’m really proud of it,” Emmerich said. “There’s 12 main characters and 20 or 30 other characters, and each of the characters is really good.”

The film has a tentative 2010 release date.

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