Lady Macbeth has been announced for the new production of Macbeth from director Justin Kurzel and writers Todd Louiso and Jacob Koskoff. We already heard that Michael Fassbender was taking the role of Macbeth himself well now we hear that Natalie Portman is set to play his Lady Macbeth.

There are no other casting announcements yet, although when I last said that the announcement came out soon after, but there are a few snippets about the period for the film.

When I wrote about Michael Fassbender playing Macbeth I mentioned that from the looks of those involved it might be an updated version in terms of setting and the period, but I'm not so sure now after reading two separate articles.

Todd Louiso and Jacob Koskoff are the writers behind the project. Louiso is a recognisable actor who has written a short called The Fifteen Minute Hamlet, and Koskoff wrote with him on a recent film called The Marc Pease Experiment which Louiso also directed. There's nothing here to suggest which way the film would go, and reading two articles about the announcement of Natalie Portman suggests two different options.

The Independent carries the story from Screen Daily and they say that this version will be set in the 11th Century and in the original language. They also say that the approach to the story will be a "visceral" one and will include some "significant battle scenes", so this won't be your standard character piece.

Meanwhile The Hollywood Reporter tell us that the story is to be an updated version "complete with the blood and thunder" of the original play.

The descriptions of the tone are similar and promise great things for the film but they both seem to have different ideas about where the story will be set, or perhaps the 11th Century is considered an updated version.

I think it does sound like a great cast and while we get a superb actress to play Lady Macbeth, deep down I had been hoping for someone British. Still, Natalie Portman will be superb in it, especially when you think of the performance she delivered in Black Swan (Filmstalker review).