Ethan Hawke is set to direct the film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play 'Camino Real'. Uri Singer, who worked with Hawke on the upcoming Sundance Film Festival entry 'Tesla', will provide financial assistance to the project.
According to the report by Variety.com, the shooting of the film will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the deadline for finishing the production being December. Hawke hopes to cast Juliette Binoche in one of the key roles and is lining up the rest of his ensemble. Hawke will not be seen in the film.
"I've been obsessed with the piece for years. I kept turning it over and over again in my mind. It's part rock opera, part 'Waiting for Godot.' What I think Tennessee was trying to do, cinema has caught up to and can do better," Hawke told Variety in an interview.
"It's not dissimilar to what Baz Luhrmann was aspiring to on 'Moulin Rouge. It's just more spiritual," he added.
Background of the play
The play takes its title from its setting, alluded to El Camino Real, a dead-end place in a Spanish-speaking town surrounded by desert with sporadic transportation to the outside world.
The play follows a young American named Kilroy as he encounters a broad range of colourful characters, some of whom, such as Don Quixote, Esmeralda and Casanova, are drawn from history, literature and myth.
Hawke has just finished the Showtime mini-series, "Good Lord Bird," and is gearing up to star opposite Alessandro Nivola in "Satan Is Real," a drama about the Louvin Brothers, an influential pair of country musicians.
