Cynthia Erivo Sets Post-Villain Role in Shakespearean Adaptation Alongside Superman Star

Cynthia Erivo defined his first new role after-Wicked. The three-time Oscar nominee, who won a Tony for her role in Broadway’s The color purple in 2016, is perhaps best known for playing Elphaba Thropp in the 2024 film. Wicked and 2025 Villain: for goodwhich respectively adapt the first and second acts of the Broadway musical telling the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West.

By Variety, Cynthia Erivo has now been cast in a film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s novel. Othellothe same weekend as Villain: for good opens in theaters.

The project, which will be filmed in Doha, Qatar, will be a cinematic version of New York Theater Workshop’s 2016 stage production of the iconic play, directed by Sam Gold and reimagined the events of the play as taking place in the midst of the Middle East war.

Erivo should play Emilia in the next Shakespeare film. The character, originally portrayed by Marsha Stephanie Blake in 2016, is the wife of the play’s villain, Iago. Erivo is joined by several people who were part of the 2016 production.

That includes producer Barbara Broccoli, who also finds herself at a career crossroads. It is the first film production to which she is attached since she ceded total control of the James Bond franchise at Amazon MGM Studios and left his position as producer after bringing numerous episodes to the screen, beginning with 1995’s Golden Eye.

Broccoli shared a statement about Othellosaying that she has “I wanted to produce the film adaptation of Othello since we held the production in New York in 2016“.

Also returning from the 2016 production, Superman star Rachel Brosnahan as Desdemona, Othello’s wife and Selma star David Oyelowo as Othello se. Oyelowo will also direct and produce the film by Cynthia Erivo. The other producer already attached to him and Broccoli is Nicky Bentham of Eon Productions. Below, read a comment from Oyelowo on the project:

Our cinematic version of Othello is bitingly modern and fearlessly ambitious. To achieve this, you need fearless actors.

Cynthia is not only a generational talent, but a dear friend with whom I am always eager to collaborate, and Rachel was a dream to star opposite in our original stage production and has been an inspiring pillar on which to build for our new vision of this legendary tale.

At the time of writing, it’s unclear if any of the other original stars from the 2016 stage production will return. However, this was a show filled with stars and actors known for their work on the big and small screen, so it’s possible that the production is currently in talks with a number of them.

While Cynthia Erivo has already replaced Marsha Stephanie Blake, there are still open roles that could allow for multiple returns. These might include Daniel Craig (Casino Royale, Heavy rain) as Iago, Finn Wittrock (American Horror Story, The The Earth) in the role of Lieutenant Cassio from Othello, and Matthew Maher (Our flag means death) in the role of Roderigo, lover of Desdemona.