NYFF to open with Frances McDormand and Denzel Washington’s Tragedy of Macbeth

Joel Coen’s Tragedy of Macbeth will premiere at the 59th New York Film Festival (NYFF) on the opening night screening on September 24. Starring Denzel Washington in the titular role as the Scottish lord and Frances McDormand as his plotting wife, this will be an update of Shakespeare's classic tragedy. 

The black and white film will be Joel’s first rodeo as a solo director without his brother Ethan Coen. Ethan and Joel usually make movies together and are popularly known as the Coen Brothers. Joel and McDormand, who have been married since 1984 have previously collaborated in movies like Blood Simple, Fargo and Burn After Reading. Joel has also penned the screen adaptation and is also the editor of the film.

Festival organisers, in a press release, following the release of the film described it as, “a work of stark chiaroscuro and incantatory rage”. The film will also star Brenden Gleeson, Corey Hawkins, Sean Patrick Thomas and Ralph Ineson.

The annual festival presented by Film and Lincoln Centre will be held this year in a combination of in-personal screening, outdoor and virtual screenings given the situation of the pandemic. This year’s NYFF will run from September 24 to October 10.

Tragedy of Macbeth will be released by A24 and Apple. There have previously been multiple adaptations of the Bard's tale of bloody ambition by directors such as Roman Polanski’s Macbeth, Orson Welles’ Macbeth and Voodoo Macbeth, Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood, Vishal Bharadwaj’s Maqbool and Dileesh Pothan’s Joji.