Barbara Broccoli’s First Post-James Bond Feature ‘Othello’ To Shoot In Qatar With David Oyelowo, Rachel Brosnahan & Cynthia Erivo
Barbara Broccoli has confirmed that her first post-James Bond feature Othello has secured financial backing in Qatar and will shoot in the Gulf territory.
David Oyelowo, Rachel Brosnahan and Cynthia Erivo are set to star in the film, with Oyelowo also to direct.
Broccoli’s company EON Productions will shoot the film in the territory in partnership with Qatar’s Doha-based Katara Studios, which is co-financing the feature.
L.A.-based production and VFX giant Company 3, which announced on Saturday that it was setting up at an operation in Doha, will also be working on the film.
The long-gestated project takes its cue from Broccoli’s 2016 theater production of the Shakespeare classic Othello transposing the early 17th century Venice-set drama about a Moorish commander to a U.S. barracks in Iraq.
Rumors about that the feature was close to being green-lighted have been rife even since Broccoli’s Eon Production registered the Othello Film Company Limited.
Broccoli is among a raft of top cinema professionals who have been in conversations with Qatar for some time over possible collaborations, with the producer spotted at a gala dinner hosted by the Doha Film Institute (DFI) and the Media City Qatar (MCQ) on the fringes of the Venice Film Festival on Monday evening.
Confirmation of the Othello shoot in Qatar comes just months after Broccoli ceded the rights with her brother Michael G. Wilson to their family’s James Bond franchise to Amazon MGM Studios earlier this year, will join Oscar-nominated producer Nicky Bentham in a masterclass on creative producing in a changing landscape.
Broccoli announced the news at the three-day Industry Days in Qatar hosted by the Film Committee at Media City Qatar in partnership with the Doha Film Institute.
The three-day event which kicked off on Friday has already yielded a raft of announcements including a new incentive and partnerships with Neon, Miramax, Sony and Company 3.
Broccoli was speaking at a masterclass on creative producing, in which she was a speaker alongside Oscar-nominated producer Nicky Bentham.
more to follow…
