Following her high-profile one-two of Nomadland and Marvel’s Eternals, Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao has been slow to pick her next film, but has finally opted for an adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet.
Deadline reports that Zhao will direct from a script adapted alongside Hamnet‘s author Maggie O’Farrell. Amblin Partners, Hera Pictures, Neal Street Productions and Book of Shadows will produce the film.
The New York Times bestseller reimagines history in Stratford, England, in the late 16th century, where Hamnet depicts the emotional, domestic, and artistic repercussions after the world’s most famous (though never named) playwright and his wife lose their only son, 11-year-old Hamnet, to the bubonic plague in 1596.
Zhao’s most recent film was Marvel’s Eternals, which grossed a pandemic-affected $402 million at the worldwide box-office, but proved to be divisive amongst fans. Before that her meditative drama Nomadland struck gold at the 2021 Oscars, taking home Best Picture, Best Director for Zhao, and Best Actress for Frances McDormand.
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