See Denzel Washington Scheme In Haunting Trailer For The Tragedy Of Macbeth

Check out Denzel Washington up to some sinister schemes in the first teaser trailer for Joel Coen's adaptation The Tragedy of Macbeth

By Doug Norrie | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

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Denzel Washington has handled all manners of roles throughout his career, showing that deft touch of a true master no matter what the script has for him. He’s been able to lock down action roles just as solidly as biopics and everything in between with a certain style that lends itself to almost anything the cinema has to offer. And now, he’s taking on one of the classics, going all Shakespearean on us with his next movie, an adaptation of Macbeth. We got one of our first looks at the movie with a teaser trailer that gives a haunting look at what’s to come with this movie. 

In the first trailer, we get a black-and-white, hollowed-out setting that belies a sinister evil at the root of the story. We know, from the Shakespeare tragedy that the titular Macbeth, and his wife, have plans thanks to the prophecies of some ill-intentioned witches. This trailer begins to set the stage for some of it, showing us Denzel Washington approaching the trio with possible ill-intentions in mind. Check out the first teaser trailer for Macbeth. 

This latest version of Macbeth is helmed by the great Joel Coen and looks like a dark and different play on the classic. Denzel Washington as Lord Macbeth walks across a desolate, wind-swept landscape to greet the three witches, all played by Kathryn Hunter. It is her voice we hear in the background uttering the timeless line, “Something wicked this way comes.” We know from the story that they are about to set into motion a dark timeline, convincing the Lord (and by proxy, his wife) that he should be the King of Scotland. 

It then, that along with Denzel Washington, we see Frances McDormand who will play Lady Macbeth in the movie adaption. Her almost sad but sinister look down the hallway gives the sense that this story will be nothing if not grim, a harrowing tale especially knowing that her own descent into madness isn’t far behind. Again, this story isn’t filled with happy endings by any stretch of the imagination and it looks like Coen is set to give us a film that is set almost like a stage play with its lack of background. We could be looking at a very different kind of movie with Macbeth. 

Macbeth is something of a departure for Denzel Washington considering the rest of his body of work. While he’s been in just about everything you can imagine, this one will have him as the star, but also the primary villain as well. Washington has some experience in this vein, having played complicated characters like Lonzo in Training Day or even Frank Lucas in American Gangster. These were characters who had some evil in them and yet the viewer could remain somewhat sympathetic to the dudes because of how Washington played things out. 

Denzel Washington is set to hit the screen in The Tragedy of Macbeth when it screens at the New York Film Festival this week on September 24th. Viewers will be able to actually get it in their homes when Apple TV+ releases the movie on December 25th. What a Christmas Day present. While the movie doesn’t exactly scream holiday revelry, from a cinematic experience this could be a great one.