Patrick Stewart has revealed a new feature project, for which he is teaming with no less than screenwriter John Logan (Sweeney Todd, The Aviator, The Last Samurai, Gladiator), to The Argus:
He’s carrying on that association with the Bard with his next film project, producing and starring in a film version of The Merchant Of Venice, set in the Las Vegas of the 20th century. The screenplay was written by John Logan, the man behind Hollywood successes such as The Last Samurai and The Aviator.
The idea came out of an argument the two had after Logan described it as a “loathsome play”.
“I spent half an hour arguing the contrary,” says Patrick. “He said, Would you like it if I started working on a screen project for nothing?’ He earns about $2 million a project, so I thought it was a decent offer.
“It is a startling way of doing the play; it is about money and sex and love and corruption.”
Logan also wrote the story for Stewart’s Star Trek: Nemesis.
