Denzel Washington’s casting as ancient Carthaginian general Hannibal in a new Netflix movie has sparked a race controversy in Tunisia, the home country of the military commander.
Washington’s casting in Antoine Fuqua’s upcoming Netflix movie was announced recently. Washington has worked with Fuqua previously on The Equalizer and Training Day.
It was also confirmed the film will be written by John Logan, the three-time Academy Award winner who has written films including Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator and Ridley Scott’s Gladiator.
According to the official synopsis, the movie will be “based on real-life warrior Hannibal, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest military commanders in history. The film covers the pivotal battles he led against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War.”
Now, according to French newspaper Courrier International, there have been complaints about portraying the military commander as a Black African in both Tunisian parliament and their media.
As per Variety, Member of Parliament Yassine Mami noted that Hannibal, who was born in 247 BC in Carthage (which is now Tunis, the Tunisian capital) was of West Asian Semitic origin. He reportedly said: “There is a risk of falsifying history: we need to take position on this subject.” Additionally, Tunisian newspaper La Presse published an editorial objecting to Washington’s portrayal.
The country’s culture minister, Hayet Ketat-Guermazi, responded differently, however.
Ketat-Guermazi said: “It’s fiction. It is [Netflix‘s] right to do what they want” (via Variety).
They continued: “Hannibal is a historical figure and we are all proud that he was Tunisian. But what can we do?…I hope they decide to shoot at least a sequence of the film here and that that this is publicised. We want Tunisia to go back to being a location where foreign films are shot.
NME has reached out to representatives of Netflix for comment.
Meanwhile, Washington is set to return to production on Scott’s Gladiator 2, which is due to restart production shortly following the conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA Hollywood strikes. The actor’s role in the film is currently unknown.
Gladiator 2 will follow Lucius (Paul Mescal) – the son of Lucilla (Connie Neilson) and Maximus (previously played by Russell Crowe) – and the nephew of Emperor Commodus, who Joaquin Phoenix played in the first film. Pedro Pascal has also been cast in the film although details about his character are as yet unknown. The film is currently slated for release in November 2024.
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