Joss Whedon talks MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING and shares some stills

 

Yesterday we reported that Joss Whedon had secretly filmed an indie adaptation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing while he directed The Avengers. Aside from the cast of Sean Maher and Amy Acker, we did not know much until today. Whedon, Maher, and Acker spoke with Entertainment Weekly sharing some in-depth details about the film and the first stills. 

Here are some highlights from the EW article:

The film came out of Whedon’s famous Shakespeare readings, which he’s long hosted at his Santa Monica home with Hollywood friends playing the parts of various characters; Acker and Alexis Denisof, who play leads Beatrice and Benedick, had stepped into the roles during a previous reading.

Whedon did Much Ado while taking a break after wrapping The Avengers. The whole thing came together in just one month, including 12 days of shooting — all at Whedon’s own house. Though it was “a ton of work,” hecalls the experience “the best vacation I’ve ever taken.” “I’ve never been so well rested and so well fed as I have on this movie,” he said.

Whedon sees the film, which is in black and white, as a “noir comedy”: “I got a very strong sense of how a little bit dark and twisted [Shakespeare's play] is.”

Much Ado is entirely self-financed: “My wife and I started a micro studio, Bellwether Pictures, in order to do things like this, creator-controlled small fare.”

Though Much Ado has yet to find a distributor, Whedon definitely intends to release it in theaters — starting with the festival circuit in spring 2012.

Maher, who plays the villainous Don John, described the vibe of the film as “contemporary” and realistic. “The direction we were getting from Joss was to make it was real, especially with the language, not to be big and Shakespearian, but to bring it in and be intimate and bring it as close to a realistic way of speaking as we could,” he said.

Avengers actor Clark Gregg plays Leonato, father of Hero (one of the story’s other romantic leads). Buffy star Anthony Head was originally cast in the part, before “conflicts” prevented him from participating.

Fillion is apparently a terrible gossip. “I think it was mostly making sure Nathan didn’t tweet about it,” Acker said of keeping the project a secret. “That’s how all news in the world seems to spread.”

I think this sounds pretty cool, and just goes to show how talented Whedon is that he can direct a film like this on his vacation from Avengers. Check out some photos below and share your thoughts: