Ralph Fiennes' Film Adaptation of Coriolanus Gets U.S. Premiere Date

Ralph Fiennes’ film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, featuring a script by Tony winner John Logan (Red), will be released in the United States on December 2 by The Weinstein Company. The film has also been tapped for the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Coriolanus stars Fiennes (who makes his debut as a movie director) in the title role, with Vanessa Redgrave as his ambitious mother, Volumnia, and Gerard Butler as Tullus Aufidius, an enemy army commander. This modern-day version of Shakespeare’s tragedy centers on a legendary Roman leader who is a great soldier but despises the masses. When the public refuses to support his bid to become Consul, his reaction inspires a riot and causes him to make an alliance with his sworn enemy.

Logan would appear to be the perfect screenwriter for Coriolanus: He received an Oscar nomination for another Roman epic, Gladiator, as well as for his script for The Aviator.