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FIRST LOOK

First Look: A Leery Rhys Ifans in Roland Emmerich's 'Anonymous'

by Alex Billington
January 5, 2011

Ohhhhh I can't wait to see this! I mean seriously, Roland frickin' Emmerich doing Shakespeare? Just look at this photo. It's all I need, I'm sold, I can't wait to see what he's got. Columbia/Sony Pictures has unveiled the first still for Anonymous, from Independence Day, Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 director Roland Emmerich. I believe that is actor Rhys Ifans seen in the photo below, playing Edward de Vere, one person thought to be responsible for the plays of William Shakespeare. Yep, its a period piece set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I and the Essex Rebellion against her. Check it out below!

Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has intrigued academics and brilliant minds ranging from Mark Twain to Sigmund Freud, namely: who was the author of the plays credited to William Shakespeare? Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when cloak-and-dagger political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court and schemes of greedy nobles hungry for power were exposed in the most unlikely of places: the London stage. Directed by Emmerich and written by John Orloff (A Mighty Heart, Legend of the Guardians). Anonymous hits theaters on September 30th.

Filed under First Look, Hype, Indies, Photos

From around the web:

Chazzy

Is this excitement sarcastic? Or at least excitement to see how he'll fail???? This will not be good.
johnny_rico

What are you talking about, this does sound cool!
Xerxex

Emmerich? ew.
beavis

i like the sound of the story.......and it's a period piece too, so - i'm interested.
Moon

UM.........Nope
Jon A.

A hack director like Ronald should not be molesting around material that concerns Shakespeare. Nope. Nope.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tyler-Danger/100000822465362 Tyler Danger

Yep, I like the new layout for these comments section! But yeah, Emmerich is what fatty cells are to heart attacks...
Kevin

Roland Emmerich has never made a good film. Don't expect much from this.
Richard-Nathan

SPOILER ALERT - "Anonymous" film reportedly dramatizes the "Prince Tudor II" theory, which states that Edward De Vere was Queen Elizabeth's secret son, as well as the father of one of her other children, as well as being the real author of Shakespeare's plays. That should tell you all you need to know about this film.
Guy

This looks beautiful, however the photo does have a lot of processing to it, it almost looks a bit animated.
http://www.edwardoxenford.org Marie Merkel

Queen Elizabeth once twitted Edward de Vere for being a bastard, as he complained to his (former) good friend Charles Arundel. Arundel reports he swore revenge for the insult, that he'd "leave her in the lurch" one day. De Vere's cousin Henry Howard told the queen's investigators that he'd been bragging about enjoying her favors. That was the one part in all the testimony given by Oxford's three former friends that REALLY got Elizabeth perturbed. As it turns out, Shakespeare wrote a rather silly play that mirrors all these shenanigans of 1581, called "TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA".
- Richard-Nathan
  
  Have you ever actually read or seen "Two Gentlemen of Verona"? There is absolutely nothing in that play that mirrors your description of events in Queen Elizabeth's life. I suspect you are confusing "Two Gentlement of Verona" with "All's Well That Ends Well" or maybe "Much Ado About Nothing" which arguably bear very slight simililarities to what you describe. In any event, I don't see how any sane person could believe Oxford was both Queen Elizabeth's son AND the father of her son.
  - Scott Evans
    
    You might want to study the frequent cases of incest among the nobility, both in England and elsewhere. It's not that insane to believe...
http://twitter.com/A5J4DX A5J4DX

sigh
substitute teacher

just saw A Shakespeare Mystery by Front Line and now I really want to see this!!