Cynthia Erivo holding her hands to her chest while wearing a feathery coatCredit: Cover Images
By
Brennan Klein
Published 43 minutes ago
Brennan Klein (he/him) is a senior news writer at Screen Rant, host of the Attack of the Queerwolf podcast, and contributor at Alternate Ending and Horror Press. He has been writing and podcasting about pop culture (especially horror movies) for over a decade at platforms including Blumhouse, Fangoria, Dread Central, The Backlot, and Arrow in the Head.
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Cynthia Erivo has set her first new role post-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 portraying Elphaba Thropp in 2024's Wicked and 2025's Wicked: For Good, which respectively adapt the first and second acts of the Broadway musical telling the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West.
Per Variety, Cynthia Erivo has now been cast in a film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, on the same weekend that Wicked: For Good opens in theaters.
The project, which will be shot in Doha, Qatar, is going to be a cinematic version of the 2016 New York Theatre Workshop stage production of the iconic play, which was directed by Sam Gold and reimagined the events of the play as taking place amid war in the Middle East.
Erivo is set to play Emilia in the upcoming Shakespeare movie. The character, who was originally portrayed by Marsha Stephanie Blake in 2016, is the wife of the play's villain, Iago. Erivo is joined by multiple people who were part of the 2016 production.
This includes producer Barbara Broccoli, who also finds herself at a career crossroads. This is the first film production that she has been attached to since ceding full control of the James Bond franchise to Amazon MGM Studios and stepping down as producer after ushering many installments to the screen, starting with 1995's GoldenEye.
Broccoli shared a statement about Othello, saying that she has "wanted to produce the cinematic adaptation of Othello since we staged the production in New York in 2016."
Also returning from the 2016 production are Superman star Rachel Brosnahan as Othello's wife Desdemona and Selma star David Oyelowo as Othello himself. Oyelowo will also be directing and producing the Cynthia Erivo movie. The other producer already attached alongside him and Broccoli is Eon Productions' Nicky Bentham. Below, read a comment from Oyelowo about the project:
Our cinematic version of Othello is bitingly modern and fearlessly ambitious. To have a real shot at that, you need fearless actors.
Cynthia is not only a generational talent, but a dear friend with whom I am always keen to collaborate, and Rachel was a dream to play opposite in our original stage production and has been an inspiring pillar to build around for our fresh take on this legendary tale.
At the time of writing, it is unknown if any of the other original stars of the 2016 stage production will return. However, it was a star-studded show full of actors who are known for their work on the big and small screens, so it is 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 several returns. These could include Daniel Craig (Casino Royale, Skyfall) as Iago, Finn Wittrock (American Horror Story, La La Land) as Othello's lieutenant Cassio, and Matthew Maher (Our Flag Means Death) as Roderigo, who is in love with Desdemona.
Headshot Of Cynthia Erivo
Cynthia Erivo
Birthdate
January 8, 1987
Birthplace
Stockwell, London, England, UK
Notable Projects
Bad Times at the El Royale, Harriet, The Outsider
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