First Look: 'Anonymous' – '2012'/'Independence Day' Director Roland Emmerich Does Shakespeare

Columbia Pictures have released the first photo from disaster movie director Roland Emmerich's (2012, Independence Day, Day After Tomorrow) Shakespeare dramaAnonymous. Written by John Orloff (Band of Brothers, A Mighty Heart, Legend of the Guardians), the political thriller focuses on "who actually wrote the plays of William Shakespeare– Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford– set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I, and the Essex Rebellion against her." Hit the jump to see the first photo from this movie.

SYNOPSIS

Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds ranging from Mark Twain and Charles Dickens to Henry James and Sigmund Freud, namely: who was the author of the plays credited to William Shakespeare? Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when cloak-and-dagger political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles hungry for the power of the throne were exposed in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.

CREDITS

Directed by : Roland Emmerich

Produced by : Roland Emmerich

Larry Franco

Robert Leger

Executive Producers : Volker Engel

Marc Weigert

John Orloff

Cast : Rhys Ifans

Vanessa Redgrave

Joely Richardson

David Thewlis

Xavier Samuel

Sebastian Armesto

Rafe Spall

Edward Hogg

Jamie Campbell Bower

and Derek Jacobi

Written by : John Orloff

In Theaters September 30, 2011