The Tempest

in a gender-defying twist! – Although the play centers on Prospero, an exiled duke-turned-sorcerer, the lead character in the movie from Broadway’s “The Lion King” director, Julie Taymor, has been rechristened Prospera. Shakespeare’s play mixes romance with fraternal politics and the supernatural. As revised for the screen, it will center around Prospera (Helen Mirren), her daughter Miranda (Felicity Jones) and a shipwrecked crew full of Prospera’s enemies. The island’s other inhabitants include negroe, Oscar nominated, Oprah favorite, Djimon Hounsou, as the deformed slave Caliban, and the sexy Ben Wishaw as the airy spirit Ariel. On the ship are rising comedy star Brand, playing Trinculo, a jester; Irons, as Alonso, the King of Naples; and Molina as the drunken butler Stephano. Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush (“Shine”) plays Gonzalo, a royal adviser and old ally of Prospera’s.