So far at the Toronto International Film Festival, there have been plenty of high profile purchases such as the dark comedySpring Breakers, the hit drama The Place Beyond the Pines, and even Kristin Wiig’s Bridesmaids follow-up in Imogene which Wiig wrote herself & stars in alongside Darren Criss, Matt Dillon and more. But one of the more interesting efforts that caught nearly everyone off guard when it was revealed last year is Joss Whedon’s upcoming adaptation of the Shakespeare classic Much Ado About Nothing.
Starring a slew of familiar faces to the director, there are plenty of Whedonverse favorites coming together to create an arthouse drama that is certainly different than Whedon’s superhero smash of the summer. Now, the classic play brought to life has found its distributor as one studio has come out on top to bring the independent feature to the big screen.
Lionsgate and Road Side Attractions have purchased the rights to distribute Much Ado About Nothing at an undetermined date sometime next year. This marks the latest high-profile purchase for both companies as they’ve been responsible for snatching up the rights for Imogene, the autobiographical docStories We Tell and even the sex addiction dramedy Thanks for Sharing starring Mark Ruffalo, Josh Gad, Gwenyth Paltrow, Tim Robbins and more in the directorial debut of The Kids Are All Right co-writer Stuart Blumberg.
Starring Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Clark Gregg, Nathan Fillion, Fran Kranz, Reed Diamond, Sean Maher, Tom Lenk, Ashley Johnson and more, Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy and modern retelling of Shakespeare’s classic tale. Shot completely in black and white, the story deals with two couples who contrast each other: one pairing who believe in love at first sight and are hopeless romantics, while the other are completely turned off to the idea of love but end up falling for each other in the process.
The film was shot for a week last year as Whedon had a small break during The Avengers, while at the same time Much Ado is the first picture under Whedon’s new production banner Bellwether Pictures.
