The website muchadothemovie.com announces a mysterious Joss Whedon project.Screengrab: Wired.com
Actor Nathan Fillion sent Joss Whedon fans into a frenzy Sunday when he tweeted a link to a website promoting Much Ado About Nothing, a mysterious project that appears to be an adaptation of the Shakespeare play.
The site suggests director Whedon has completed principal photography on the film, working with a cast of actors seen many times in his other projects, including Fillion (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog), Amy Acker (Angel), Alex Denisoff (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Sean Maher (Firefly) and more.
Maher confirmed the existence of the previously secret project on Twitter: “I promise you it’s the real deal and we’re VERY excited about it!” he wrote.
Fans were sent into a frenzy of speculation because there was little other information about the project to be found online. Since Whedon is currently busy completing the big-budget Avengers movie, it seemed hard to believe that he could take the time out to shoot another film at the same time.
But new information started to flow this morning when an actress who served as an extra on the film blogged about some of her experiences. Much Ado appears to be another guerrilla-style shoot, not unlike Whedon’s cult hit Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, which he put together with friends and family over a couple of weeks during and after a Hollywood writers’ strike.
That’s right, in the midst of Joss’s work directing The Avengers (which still isn’t completely finished), Whedon managed to film Much Ado in its entirety for release (I am presuming) sometime next year.
If the suggested time frame for release is right, we won’t actually see the film for a while. There are no details yet on how it will be distributed, but Whedon could use the same direct-to-consumer model that worked so well for Dr. Horrible. Whatever the case, his fans are primed and eager to see what Shakespeare looks like in the hands of their geeky hero.
Edit: The movie’s website now features a press release (PDF) that includes the cast list. It should be interesting to see Sean Maher play a villain.
