Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua will shoot their Hannibal movie this summer

A great epic about the Carthaginian general who defied Rome, written by the screenwriter of Gladiator.

Since its announcement in 2023, there has been no news about the Netflix film project on Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca. Variety reveals today that filming will begin this summer in Italy, in the legendary Cinecittà studios, where major epics like Ben-Hur Or Cleopatra.

Denzel Washington, also a producer, will play Hannibal under the direction of Antoine Fuqua. This will mark the sixth collaboration between the actor and director, which began with Training Day in 2001, with an Oscar for Washington.

The screenplay is by John Logan (Aviator, Gladiator), who recently worked with Antoine Fuqua on the Michael Jackson biopic. And the director of photography will be Robert Richardson, three-time Oscar winner for JFK, Aviator And Hugo Cabret.

Richardson also worked on Platoon, Casino, Men of influence, The man who whispered in the ears of horses as well as numerous Tarantino films including Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. This will be his third collaboration with Fuqua after Emancipation And Equalizer 3.

According to Varietythis peplum will be “based on the true life of the warrior Hannibal, considered one of the greatest military strategists in history. The film will cover the key battles he fought against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic Wars“.

The announcement of the project 3 years ago generated heated controversy in Tunisia, on social networks and even in Parliament. The African-American actor Denzel Washington being considered “too black” to play Hannibal, born in Carthage, near present-day Tunis. But also too old: he is now 71 years old, while Hannibal was 45 when he was finally defeated by the Romans.

Washington in any case continues with a new peplum, after having played Macrinus in Gladiator 2. The rest of the castHannibal has not been revealed, nor its release date.