Shakespeare’s Hamlet Is Turned Into A Gritty Crime Thriller In New Trailer For Riz Ahmed Adaptation

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is about to be reimagined as a gritty crime thriller.

Riz Ahmed stars in a brand new adaptation of Hamlet, which brings to life a contemporary rendition of the traditional tragic play. Hamlet has earned loads of in style, public consideration as of late, partially due to the critically acclaimed Hamnet, a movie exploring the connection between the play and Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, who died at a younger age.

Nonetheless, that is not the one challenge the play is presently linked to. Vertical has launched a brand new trailer for Hamlet, which stars Ahmed because the title character in a contemporary, crime thriller revisioning of the traditional play. The trailer sees Ahmed’s Hamlet grieving along with his household over the demise of his father, a proclaimed determine inside the UK’s rich South Asian neighborhood.

Issues take a flip when his father’s ghost seems earlier than him, indicating his uncle could have had one thing to do along with his demise. The trailer most notably highlights Ahmed and Morfydd Clark’s characters, with the pair saying strains which are pulled straight from Shakespeare’s authentic play, solely in a contemporary, extra capitalistic setting.

Try the complete trailer beneath:

This newest adaptation of Hamlet is directed by Aneil Karia, greatest identified for profitable Finest Dwell Motion Quick Movie in 2021 for The Lengthy Goodbye. Ahmed is an award-winning actor himself, having starred in Karia’s quick movie. The actor had beforehand earned an Emmy win for the 2017 miniseries The Evening Of.

The Shakespeare adaptation guarantees similarities to the likes of 1996’s Romeo + Juliet, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, which pulled dialogue from the pages of the unique script whereas utilizing a contemporary setting. This function movie will do the identical as Hamlet tries to seek out justice for the demise of his father.

Whereas the film is coming to theaters on April 10, 2026, it beforehand premiered on the Telluride Movie Competition on August 30, 2025. Evaluations for Hamlet have been overwhelmingly optimistic, with the difference presently holding an 82% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes based mostly on 39 evaluations. It was launched within the UK on February 6 of this yr.

As Hamlet‘s US launch approaches, the trailer affords an intriguing premise that may doubtless ship compelling concepts surrounding the Shakespeare character. The trendy setting permits for a brand new lens by means of which to view the play, constructing on the tragic circumstances of the unique in distinctive methods.

Hamlet arrives within the US on April 10, 2026.