The lovely people from Overture Films are reigniting the flame of Shakespeare once again in cinema in the form of Hamlet. This time around, it’ll be a more modern retelling of the classic tale with the help of Thirteen and Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke. Joining the list is Into The Wild & Speed Racer’s Emile Hirsch, playing the tragic Hamlet himself. The story – focusing on a young man burdened with the decision of whether to take revenge on his father’s killer (his own uncle) – would take place in contemporary America.

Emile & others locked in for some Shakespeare

Along with producing is Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks who both collaborated on Milk & Pushing Daisies just to name a few. “This project was the brainchild of Emile Hirsch, who we had the pleasure of working with on ‘Milk’.  Hamlet was in college when the story takes place, yet there hasn’t been a movie version with an appropriately-aged actor playing the role.  Our goal is to present the story as a suspense thriller.  We want to make it exciting and accessible for an audience today,” Jinks and Cohen said in a joint statement. Start boning up on your Shakespeare reading because from the looks of it, this puppy can flow eloquently out into theaters possibly around 2011.