Something wicked this way comes as Denzel Washington walks calmly with murderous intent in the newest trailer for writer/director Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth. The brief footage once again teases the movie’s haunting atmosphere, as Washington’s Macbeth carries out the violent act that will seal his fate. And all in stark and stunning black-and-white.

The Tragedy of Macbeth is sure to be an unmatched feast for the senses, with the newest footage teasing the meticulous use of sound and visuals to project an atmosphere of inevitable doom as the shadows created by the glorious black-and-white stab into every corner of the screen. For those unfamiliar with the Bard's seminal tale, Macbeth is thought to have been first performed in 1606 and follows a Scottish lord who becomes convinced by a trio of witches that it is his destiny to become the king of Scotland. With the help of his dangerously ambitious wife, Macbeth goes to extreme, increasingly violent lengths to seize the crown and claim what he believes to be his rightful place as king.

Joel Coen’s adaptation of the William Shakespeare tragedy has not only recruited the Academy Award-winning talents of Denzel Washington as the titular Lord Macbeth, but also the Academy Award-winning talents of Nomadland star Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth, whose overconfidence and manipulative nature sends both her and her husband into the realms of madness and death. Alongside Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, The Tragedy of Macbeth star In Bruges' Brendan Gleeson as King Duncan, Straight Outta Compton star Corey Hawkins as Macduff, The Legend of Buster Scruggs alum Harry Melling as Malcolm, and The Queen's Gambit star Moses Ingram as Lady Macduff.

The Joel Coen directed The Tragedy of Macbeth has been described as completely unique, with the writer and director hoping to craft a "boldly inventive visualization of The Scottish Play," which will result in "an anguished film that stares, mouth agape, at a sorrowful world undone by blind greed and thoughtless ambition." Based on the footage from the movie released so far, it certainly looks like Coen has achieved these lofty creative ideals and then some. With such a starry cast and Oscar winner Joel Coen at the helm, The Tragedy of Macbeth is sure to be brimming with show-stealing performances, with the movie expected to be a favorite come awards season.

"In meticulously world-weary performances, a strikingly inward Denzel Washington is the man who would be king, and an effortlessly Machiavellian Frances McDormand is his Lady, a couple driven to political assassination - and deranged by guilt - after the cunning prognostications of a trio of 'weird sisters' (a virtuoso physical inhabitation by Kathryn Hunter)," reads the New York Film Festival's initial announcement of the movie, which goes on to tease "Coen's tale of sound and fury is entirely his own - and undoubtedly one for our moment, a frightening depiction of amoral political power-grabbing that, like its hero, ruthlessly barrels ahead into the inferno."

The Tragedy of Macbeth is scheduled to have its world premiere at the 2021 New York Film Festival on September 24, 2021. It will then be theatrically released by A24 followed by global launch on Apple TV+.