Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal to star in Broadway production of Othello next year
Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal will star in Othello on Broadway next year.
Two time Oscar winner Washington, 69 will star in the title role while Oscar nominee Gyllenhaal, 43, will play Iago in the William Shakespeare play which will be directed by Kenny Leon and is set for a spring 2025 premiere, per THR.
Leon has previously directed Washington in Fences and A Raisin in the Sun.
Washington has an extensive history on Broadway, most recently starring in the 2018 revival of Iceman Cometh, and also appearing in Julius Cesar and Checkmates.
Gyllenhaal, whose Road House remake will be released on March 21, has starred in the 2019 production of A Life and Sunday in the Park with George.
Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal will star in Othello on Broadway next year
Brian Moreland is the lead producer on Othello - set to open at an unnamed Shubert theater
Brian Moreland is the lead producer on Othello - set to open at an unnamed Shubert theater.
In the original play, written around 1603, Othello is a 'Moorish' military commander who serves as a general in the Venetian army.
He defends Cyprus against an invasion from the Ottoman Turks with his trusted ensign Iago by his side.
But Iago, who is suspicious Othello may have had an affair with his wife Emilia, secretly plots against and destroy him.
Othello secretly married Desdemona, the daughter of a Venetian senator.
Iago stokes Othello's jealousy to believe Desdemona is cheating on him, until he eventually kills her in a fit of rage.
Washington and Spike Lee will work together again, for the first time since 2006, on a remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 movie High and Low.
Spike Lee, 66, and Washington will work together again, for the first time since 2006, on remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 movie High and Low. The Oscar-winning filmmaker and actor were pictured at an event in LA in 2019
Washington and Lee, 66, have past worked together on four films, including the 2006 crime thriller Inside Man, the 1998 sports drama He Got Game, the 1992 biopic Malcolm X and the 1990 musical drama Mo' Better Blues.
The remake of High and Low will be a collaboration with A24, which will put the movie out in theaters; and Apple Original Films, which will release the movie globally via its AppleTV+ platform.
Washington has been seen on the silver screen in recent years in the 2023 crime thriller The Equalizer 3, which made more than $191 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.
Prior to that, Washington starred in the 2021 film The Tragedy of Macbeth, garnering an Oscar nomination for his work in the Joel Coen-directed movie, which was also put out by A24 and Apple.
While Gyllenhaal plays Elwood Dalton in Road House, a former UFC fighter who becomes a bouncer for a dingy bar in the Florida Keys (pictured in the film with Conor McGregor
Washington has twice won Academy Awards for his work: For Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Glory in 1990; and for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Training Day in 2002.
While Gyllenhaal plays Elwood Dalton in Road House, a former UFC fighter who becomes a bouncer for a dingy bar in the Florida Keys.
UFC fighter Conor McGregor, 35, will also star in the reboot of the cult classic that starred Patrick Swayze, set to be released on Amazon Prime on March 21.
