The Macbeth news broke last night as I was already in bed, so I didn’t have much chance to really work out what I thought about it. It’s a holiday here in South Africa so I’ve got some time to tap out a few pros and cons from my point of view. You guys can do the same in the comments and in a day or two we can set up a poll.

PRO

It’s a new Natalie movie. Any Natalie movie is better than no Natalie movie. Unless that movie is Free Zone.

CON

The director, Justin Kurzel, only has one feature film to his name, although it appears as though he has also signed up to adapt a John le Carré novel next, starring Ralph Fiennes and Ewan McGregor, so Hollywood is showing faith in his talents.

PRO

The directors only feature film was Snowtown, a dark and bloody crime film that impressed and repelled in equal measure. You can see the trailer here to get a (bitter) taste.

Lots more after the jump…

CON

I don’t have nearly as much of a hangup about Natalie’s accents as most. That said, whether it’s because of the accent itself or because of the debate about the accent, it could be distracting having her interpret a Scottish tongue. Hopefully they don’t bother with accents and focus instead on the emotional authenticity of each exchange.

PRO

Given Snowtown and the word that the adaptation is going to be “visceral” and depicting “significant battle scenes”, it seems like a good fit for what is a pretty damn dark story to begin with. The more I think about it the more I’m warming to the idea of seeing Natalie tap into the kind of stuff that helped make her Black Swan performance such an eye opener.

I see a lot of comments from people who say Natalie is better suited to happier material, but I actually think her best work tends to be when she goes edgy. Closer, Hotel Chevalier, Black Swan, at least half of Leon, the best moments of V for Vendetta etc.

CON

The Lad Macbeth role is so well known and comes with so much history that Natalie is facing a mountain of expectation that she’s going to have to overcome. Personally I like the challenge and would much rather see her taking on roles that she might face plant instead of something like Jane in Thor that she can probably do in her sleep.

But if she doesn’t utterly nail this, the knives will be out for sure.

PRO

Working with Michael Fassbender again means a) the connection in the Untitled Terrence Malick film must have creatively got them excited about working together and b) for whatever reason Fassbender left Jane Got A Gun, it probably had nothing to do with Natalie. Or at least neither of them is holding onto any negative feelings. Fassbender is one of the few actors who I’ll never tire of getting stoked about when linked to a Natalie film. Here’s hoping Natalie can raise her game to his consistently exceptional level.

CON

The play is apparently cursed. In fact nobody is even supposed to call it Macbeth, but rather refer to it as “that Scottish play”. Gulp.

PRO

Natalie has two Terrence Malick films, a blockbuster superhero film, a gritty western and now a dose of dark Shakespeare on the way. That’s a nice diverse slate of projects right there. Say what you will about Natalie, but she’s always changing it up.

CON

William Shakespeare’s dialogue is incredible, but for those of us who aren’t as used to the language, it can be frustrating and a lot of work to follow everything. I’m happy they’re doing an authentic adaptation instead of some silly modernized re-imagining, but I’m already getting my brow ready to be furrowed during some of the exchanges in the film.

PRO

Screen Daily revealed that Natalie had long wanted to tackle the role, even considering taking to the stage again to fulfill the ambition. Her spending the greater part of a decade thinking about Nina in Black Swan seemed to help, so maybe this will have a similar positive effect.

CON

Adaptations of Shakespeare plays haven’t been very successful of late. Even the impressive Coriolanus, that found an inventive middle ground between the past and a more modern approach, disappeared with barely any notice. If this gets close to $10 million at the box office it will be a minor miracle.

What say you?