Al Pacino will play King Lear on the big screen, heading the cast of a major film adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy that starts shooting next year.
Pacino, 78, and Radford are reuniting with producer Barry Navidi following their critically acclaimed The Merchant of Venice, the visually sumptuous 2004 film in which Pacino played Shylock.
The most recent King Lear was a BBC adaptation earlier this year starring Anthony Hopkins.
Pacino made his name playing gangsters and cops in films such as The Godfather, Scarface and Serpico.