Sons of Anarchy Meets Shakespeare? Macbeth Star Ethan Hawke to Headline Modern-Day Cymbeline Film

Ethan Hawke, who is gearing up to star in Macbeth at Lincoln Center Theater this October, has a second Bard-related project on deck: The stage and screen favorite will put a contemporary spin on Shakespeare’s Cymbeline on the big screen, according to Deadline.com. Hawke will reunite with writer and director Michael Almereyda, who helmed and adapted a reimagined Hamlet, starring Hawke, on the big screen in 2000. Filming will begin August 19 in New York City. No additional casting has been announced.

Set in the midst of a war between corrupt police officers and drug-peddling bikers, Deadline.com describes the update as a cross between Sons of Anarchy and Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet. Shakespeare’s Cymbeline tells the story of the forbidden marriage between Imogen, the daughter of King Cymbeline, and Posthumus Leonatus, a man in the king’s court. Hawke will play Iachimo, a friend who bets Posthumus that he can successfully seduce Imogen.

Hawke last appeared onstage as the director and star of off-Broadway’s Clive. He received a Tony nomination for The Coast of Utopia, and also appeared on Broadway in Henry IV and The Seagull. In addition to Hamlet, Hawke’s many screen credits include Dead Poets Society, Reality Bites, Great Expectations, Gattaca, Training Day, Before Midnight and The Purge. His newest film Getaway will hit theaters August 30.