Riz Ahmed Could Bring Modern-day Hamlet to Netflix

It has been confirmed that Netflix is negotiating to purchase a contemporary retelling of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. 

Riz Ahmed and screenwriter Mike Leslie, who worked on the screenplays for Justin Kurtzel’s Macbeth and Assassin’s Creed, have been working on this version.

Star of the Night Of and One, Ahmed revealed last year his dream of doing “Hamlet” during a Q&A on Twitter might actually get his chance to do so on one of the biggest streaming  platforms.

With Netflix financing and distributing, the plan is for Ahmed to star as the tragic protagonist and for Jim Wilson to produce. This take of the classic will take place in modern-day London. The story will weave themes of familial honor, moral duty, and dynastic corruption.

Ahmed was the first man of South Asian descent to win an Emmy winning the best actor in a limited series or movie earlier this year for his role in The Night Of.