Oscar winner to star with Michael Fassbender in See-Saw production, replacing Natalie Portman. Shoot set for January 2014.

See-Saw Films has announced that Marion Cotillard has been cast as Lady Macbeth opposite Michael Fassbender in Macbeth, directed by Snowtown’s Justin Kurzel.

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Cotillard won the Oscar in 2007 for her performance as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose and received several nominations for her role in Rust and Bone. She has also starred in major releases including Inception, Midnight in Paris, Contagion and The Dark Knight Rises.

Natalie Portman was previously attached to the role.

Producers are Iain Canning and Emile Sherman of See-Saw Films, which made The King’s Speech and Shame.

Pre-production will commence at the end of the year with principal photography in the UK in January 2014. See-Saw have developed the project alongside Film4. StudioCanal will majority finance with Film4.

StudioCanal will distribute Macbeth in the UK, France and Germany handling international sales.

Kurzel said: “I feel extremely blessed that Marion is joining our film. She is one of the bravest and most compelling actors I have watched in recent years and I cannot wait to collaborate with both her and Michael in bringing to screen this very human and tragic love story.”

Canning said: “Marion Cotillard has proven extraordinary versatility through her stunning performances in La Vie en Rose and Rust and Bone. Casting her as Lady Macbeth alongside Michael Fassbender will bring a fresh and exciting dynamic to the story of lovers pulled apart by war and ambition.” 

The new adaptation is described as “a thrilling interpretation of the dramatic realities of the times and a truthful reimagining of what wartime must have really been like for one of Shakespeare’s most famous and compelling characters, a story of all-consuming passion and ambition set in war torn 11th Century Scotland.”

Marion Cotillard is repped by CAA and Agence Adequat.