Roland Emmerich's Latest Film Takes Aim at Shakespeare Controversy

Posted on April 7, 2011

Here is the new trailer for Roland Emmerich's Anonymous, a thriller which posits that Edward De Vere, the Earl of Oxford, actually wrote all the plays attributed to William Shakespeare. The film will be released on September 30th and stars Derek Jacobi, Jamie Campbell Bower, Rhys Ifans, David Thewlis, Joely Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave.

We have to admit we were a bit surprised that Emmerich, who is better known for disaster blockbusters such as The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 has turned his talents to a literary thriller. We admit that the trailer had us on the edge of our seats: Emmerich certainly knows how to make a barnburner of an action film, that's for sure -- although a grumpy NASA declared 2012 as "the most absurd science fiction movie ever made."

But back to intrigue during Elizabethan times. Those who despise the "Shakespeare didn't write his own plays" crowd will be livid by the end of the trailer. De Vere's supporters are going to love it. Take a look: