Variety's TATIANA SIEGEL reports that
F. Gary Gray (
The Italian Job) has been tapped to direct Mandalay Pictures' big screen adaptation of the Oni Press graphic novel
Julius, a contemporary urban crime version of
William Shakespeare’s
Julius Caesar.
Mandalay's
Cathy Schulman said that Gray "has a vision for this adaptation that will satirize obsessive consumerism while providing a thrilling ride for audiences."
Created by
Antony Johnston & Brett Weldele,
Julius tells the story of a London crime king who is worshipped until he's conspired against by fellow gangsters Brett, Cassidy, Dennis, Steve, Lee, and Kostas.
A review of the comic by The Fourth Rail said that "Johnston blends modern British street vernacular with the flowery meter of Shakespeare, and it makes for a curious result", while Read About Comics called
Julius "a wonderful take on the original play, while setting the graphic novel firmly in the twenty-first century."
[Thanks to ELISABETH RAPPE at Cinematical.]