Ralph Fiennes takes the reins on Coriolanus

Ralph Fiennes is poised to make his directing debut with a contemporary retelling of Coriolanus, the Shakespeare tragedy about a disputatious Roman general who leads a rebellion against the empire. Production starts next week in Belgrade. Not content with calling the shots from behind the camera, Fiennes will also star in the title role. Vanessa Redgrave plays his ambitious mother Volumnia, while Gerard Butler co-stars as Tullus Aufidius, the commander of an enemy army whom Coriolanus coaxes into an uneasy alliance. Brian Cox rounds out the cast as the Roman senator Menenius. John Logan, the screenwriter behind The Aviator and Gladiator, wrote the script. The production was first announced at last year's Cannes film festival, where Fiennes was keen to present it as racy, exciting action thriller. "People who've read the script think it's a page-turner," he told Screen International. "I want it to be an edge-of-seat film." Fiennes, 47, will next be seen in the Ricky Gervais comedy Cemetery Junction. Later this year he makes his final bow as Voldemort in the two-part Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.