Michael Fassbender, ‘Macbeth’ Happening Later This Year

Michael Fassbender has signed on for Macbeth from Snowtown director Justin Kurzel, according to a Monday report from Screen Daily.

The website noted that the film would be produced by See Saw, the same team behind The King’s Speech and Shame, and would begin shooting later this year.

Kurzel and Fassbender will join with writers Jacob Koskoff and Todd Louiso on the project, which will remain set in the 11th Century and be shot in the original language. It will also reportedly be a full-blooded adaptation of one of the Bard’s bloodiest plays, so you can expect horror movie levels of violence with key battle sequences involving what we can only presume are graphic mutilations and beheadings.

(We know there’s at least one anyway. Three cheers for that!)

If you’re unfamiliar with the story — and if you are, seriously, start listening better in English class — it centers on an ambitious Scottish lord, who takes power through force and manipulation, thanks in part to his scheming wife. However, he finds that a rise to power in such fashion also sets one up for a fall of equal or greater proportions.

Michael Fassbender will take the lead role, but thus far, there have been no announcements for other leads, including the central role of Lady Macbeth.

Fassbender recently stepped away from Jane Got a Gun — given that film’s volatile set, who could blame him? — but will remain quite busy throughout 2013 and 2014.

For this year, his IMDb resume shows The Counselor, an untitled Terrence Malick project, and Frank, all in post-production with Twelve Years a Slave already in the can.

As for Fassbender’s reason for dropping out of Jane, the actor’s camp cited conflicts with X-Men: Days of Future Past, but we’re not so certain it wasn’t the turmoil and uncertainty.

Either way, it’s good to see him step up to the Shakespearean plate, especially with this story, which is often considered the Bard’s “horror movie.”

What do you think of Michael Fassbender in Macbeth? Perfect casting or a misstep?

[Image via cinemafestival / Shutterstock.com]