Sir Samuel Alexander Mendes CBE (born 1 August 1965) is an English film and stage director, producer and screenwriter. In theatre, he is known for his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret (1994), Oliver! (1994), Company (1995), and Gypsy (2003). He directed an original West End stage musical for the first time with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2013).
For directing the play The Ferryman, Mendes was awarded the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play in 2019.
Chloe Zhao’s ‘Hamnet’ Lands at Focus Features, Steven Spielberg Boards as Producer
variety.comRebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao’s next film “Hamnet” has landed at Focus Features with Steven Spielberg newly joining the project as a producer. “Hamnet” is adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s Shakespeare-era novel, which was published in 2020 and fictionalizes the life of the Bard’s son who died at a young age.
As previously announced, Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal will star in “Hamnet” alongside Emily Watson and Joe Alwyn. Zhao wrote the screenplay with O’Farrell.
Focus will release ‘Hamnet’ in the U.S. on a yet-to-be-determined date, with Universal Pictures International handling the theatrical rollout in the rest of the world.
Along with Spielberg, producers on the movie include Liza Marshall (“The End We Start From”), Pippa Harris (“1917”) and Sam Mendes (“1917”).
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