For his directorial debut, Hurt Locker actor Christian Camargo has thought about what the kids today really want to see in the cinema and decided that it’s a modern telling of a Chekov story. Yup, they really do love the overeager ensign of the USS Enterp… Sorry, what? Oh, that one? The one spelled “Chekhov”? And it’s an adaptation of his play The Seagull? Well, that’s probably for a slightly more adult audience, then. Camargo is in the process of assembling a top-notch cast to bring it to life, including Allison Janney, William Hurt, Jean Reno, Katie Holmes, Mark Rylance and Juliet Rylance.
With a sprawling cast of characters, Chekhov’s play follows various storylines laden with subtext about the romantic and artistic conflicts of the cast. But four main roles are at the forefront, including ingénue Nina, older, fading actress Irina Arkadina, her playwright son Konstantin Treplev and writer Trigorin.
Camargo’s script updates the tale to rural New England, unspooling across a Memorial Day weekend. Janney is now set to play Elizabeth, a film star based on the Arkadina role, with Hurt as her brother and Holmes as the emotional daughter of the estate’s caretaker. "Christian's script is delicately and beautifully written, with all the humour, desperation and longing that are synonymous with Chekhov," says Juliet Rylance in a statement picked up by Variety.
The plan is to shoot the film this summer in upstate New York. So, Russian literature fans, is this a development to be welcomed or not?