The next actor to tackle King Lear is Al Pacino. He takes on the title role in the King Lear adaptation of the Shakespeare play that will be directed by Michael Radford.

Radford, who wrote the script, is making his second Shakespearean attempt with Pacino after their 2004 collaboration Merchant of Venice. Pacino played Shylock.

King Lear is about an aging monarch who selects his successor by dividing his kingdom in three parts, ruled by his trio of daughters. Two of them are scheming connivers who flatter their father, while the one loving daughter, Cordelia, refuses to play that game and is exiled. The king ultimately loses everything.

Radford will lens the picture entirely in Europe, starting later this year.