Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington (Glory, Training Day, Fences) has signed on to star in director Antoine Fuqua’s upcoming film at Netflix about the ancient warrior Hannibal, whom Washington will play. Fuqua previously directed Washington in the films Training Day, The Magnificent Seven, and the Equalizer franchise. The film will be written by John Logan, the three-time Academy Award winner who scribed Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator and Ridley Scott’s Gladiator.
According to the official logline, the historical movie is “based on real-life warrior Hannibal, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest military commanders in history. The film covers the pivotal battles he led against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War.”
Hannibal invaded Italy while riding a Northern African war elephant. Under his lead, the Carthaginians won key victories against the Romans, allowing Hannibal to occupy the majority of southern Italy for 15 years. Eventually, Hannibal was defeated by the Romans at the Battle of Zama after they counter-invaded North Africa.
Washington will next be seen in another war epic, the upcoming sequel to Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. That movie had to pause production in Morocco due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, but the director recently revealed he had been editing 90 minutes of footage during the labor shutdown. Washington joins Paul Mescal, Connie Nielsen, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger and Pedro Pascal in the film, currently dated for November 2024.
via: Variety
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