‘Othello’: David Oyelowo, Rachel Brosnahan & Cynthia Erivo To Star In William Shakespeare Drama Produced By Barbara Broccoli

Former James Bond franchise producer Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions is behind a new feature film adaptation of the classic William Shakespeare play “Othello,” with David Oyelowo (“Selma”) set to direct the new pic while also starring alongside Rachael Brosnan (“Superman”) and Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked: For Good”).

Deadline has revealed that “Othello” secured financial backing when the news was announced by Broccoli at the three-day Industry Days in Qatar, hosted by the Film Committee at Media City Qatar in partnership with the Doha Film Institute, where the head of EON was joined on stage by Nicky Bentham and Oyelowo.

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This iteration is said to be taking cues from Sam Gold‘s 2016 stage production of “Othello,” which moved the setting from 17th-century Venice to the U.S. barracks in Iraq, as the military angle of the film is getting sort of a modern twist (not unlike a recent retelling of Shakespeare’s “Coriolanus” from 2011). That previous stage version had Oyelowo as Othello with Daniel Craig in the role of Iago, but we currently have no idea if Craig will be reprising the part or if it’ll go to another actor.

EON is producing through Broccoli and Bentham with Oyelowo via Yoruba Saxon and in partnership with Qatar’s Doha-based Katara Studios (also co-financing the film). It is said to be aiming to shoot in the “Gulf territory” with the Shakespeare project tapping into the Qatar Screen Production Incentive (what sounds like a new tax credit to lure foreign productions to Qatar) and could begin production over there as early as Fall 2026.

You might remember that Broccoli/EON had creative control over the Bond franchise because Amazon MGM Studios decided to buy out the longstanding producing team to instead bring in heavyweight Hollywood producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman to oversee the development of “Bond 26,” which now has Denis Villeneneuve (“Dune: Part Three”) directing and Steven Knight (“Peaky Blinders”) attached to pen a script.

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We’ll be quite interested to see who lands other supporting roles in “Othello,” as the trio assembled so far is exciting as it gets, and we have to assume it will be a dramatic project that other high-profile actors could be courted for.