A sequel 400 years in the making!
In Hamlet 2, Steve Coogan stars as a man who can’t make it in life as a lousy actor, so he becomes a lousy high school drama teacher. When the school threatens to shut down the theater department, he decides to put on a benefit show to rival all other benefit shows. But that doesn’t mean some lame revival of Oklahoma! or Death of a Salesman; he’s going to create his own original production. He decides to write a sequel to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and manages to get around the pesky issue of 99% of the characters dying at the end of the original. All you need are a few convenient plot devices, like a time machine and the adding of Jesus as a character, and a few catchy musical numbers, like “Rock Me, Sexy Jesus.”
A plot this hilariously ludicrous and a cast that includes Coogan, Catherine Keener, Amy Poehler, and the reintroduction of Elisabeth Shue is bound to be an entertaining RENT IT. And if not, perhaps some other Shakespearian sequels will start cropping up. Coming next summer: King Lear II: The Reckoning.
Hamlet 2 is not yet rated and opens in limited release August 27. (Official site)
There is another Shakespearian comedy coming out. Never Say Macbeth is coming out nationwide on DVD on August 26th. In this comedy, a science teacher says “Macbeth” in a theater and unleashes mayhem upon a troupe of actors. It’s a cross between Waiting for Guffman and Beetlejuice. Hamlet 2 was made for nine million. Never Say Macbeth was made for less than $90,000. Hamlet 2 was bought for 10 million by Focus Features at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. Never Say Macbeth received a DVD deal from Vanguard Cinema after playing several film festivals including Dances with Films and Indie Express Best of Fest. The producers are praying to make ten bucks. Never Say Macbeth has received rave reviews: Steven Leigh Morris of L.A. Weekly called it “a sweet satire of our theatre.” Duane L. Martin of Rogue Cinema calls Never Say Macbeth “awesome, entertaining, funny and brilliant…one of the top two or three indie films I’ve reviewed in the last three years.” Debbie Lynn Elias of Movie Shark Deblore calls it “a brilliantly funny, entertaining, raucous, laugh-out loud, comedy”