Great Scot! 'Macbeth' returns to the big screen.

One of Shakespeare's most celebrated plays is to be adapted by 'Love Liza' director Todd Louiso.

May  6 2005

Jennifer Connelly and Philip Seymour Hoffman are to star in a big-screen adaptation of William Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'.

Directed by Todd Louiso, star of 'High Fidelity' and 'Jerry Maguire' and director of 'Love Liza', the film will be set in the 11th century, with Hoffman cast as Macbeth and Connelly playing his conniving Lady.

Speaking of his stars, Louiso said: 'Philip and Jennifer have seriousness about what they do: they want to make films that have meaning – that have magnitude.'

He added that he wants his version to emphasise the play's 'psychological torment' and 'brute eroticism'.

The film is set to go into production at the end of the year, and Mary Jane Skalasi of Renaissance Films (who will distribute the film worldwide) is in no doubt that the project will be a success.

'Renaissance immediately understood that this was going to be a different sort of Shakespeare' she said, adding: 'It made them the perfect partners for us.'