Al Pacino, Jessica Chastain to Star in New Shakespeare Adaptation "Lear Rex"

Al Pacino is taking on a new project from the world of William Shakespeare. Bernard Rose has been tapped to write and direct "Lear, Rex", a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear. 

The Godfather star will play the title character, while Jessica Chastain stars as Goneril. Other cast to follow soon.

The pic is produced by Barry Navidi and marks his fifth collaboration with Pacino after "The Merchant of Venice" (2004), "Wilde Salomé" (2011), "Salomé" (2013), and "Modi" (2024).

The project also reunites Al Pacino with Chastain who starred alongside him in the play "Salomé", a performance that led to her first film appearance in "Wilde Salomé" directed by the acclaimed star. 

In Lear Rex, an aging King divides his land between his three daughters to prevent future strife, he rejects however, his young daughter who loves him and instead places his trust in her malevolent sisters, who strip him of his power and condemn him to a wretched wasteland of horror and insanity.

“This project has been Al’s labor of love for over a decade,” Navidi said. “I am overjoyed to bring this amazing venture to the screen with Bernard Rose’s brilliant adaptation and bold unique vision. I am so excited to team up again with Jess since Pacino’s Wilde Salome.”

Rose added: “Al and I are going to make a bold, cinematic Lear that will be as accessible moving and powerful as the play was for its original audiences. I am thrilled to have Jessica Chastain join us on this journey,”.

"The devotion myself and everyone I know have for The Godfather, Heat and many of his other films, Pacino puts into Shakespeare. He believes those masterworks should be ‘tried more often’ in film’, in order to ‘take the humanity that Shakespeare writes into characters and express it," she continued.

Al Pacino made his Broadway debut in "Does the Tiger Wear Necktie?" in 1969, a role that earned his first Tony Award. He won his second Tony for his role in the 1977 revival of "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel". He was also nominated for the award in the 2010 staging of "The Merchant of Venice".

"Lear Rex" aims for a late summer start in Los Angeles.