A Midsummer's Nightmare (film)

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A Midsummer's Nightmare
A Midsummer's Nightmare (film).jpg
Title card
Genre Psychological thriller
Based on A Midsummer Night's Dream
by William Shakespeare
Written byAnthony Jaswinski
Directed by Gary Fleder
Starring
Music by
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producers
ProducerJim O'Grady
CinematographyTrevor Forrest
Editors
  • Keith Henderson
  • Scott Turner
Production company A+E Studios
Original release
Network Lifetime
ReleaseJuly 31, 2017 (2017-07-31)

A Midsummer's Nightmare is a 2017 American psychological thriller television film [1] directed by Gary Fleder and written by Anthony Jaswinski. It is a modern adaptation of the play A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. [2] [3] It aired on Lifetime on July 31, 2017.

Contents

Synopsis

Four young lovers go into the woods to pursue their romantic desires but find their fantasies and secrets being used against them.

Cast

Production

The film was produced as a pilot for a planned hour-long anthology series [4] but the pilot was not picked up as a series. [5] Filming took place in Vancouver and elsewhere in British Columbia, Canada from October 31 to November 18, 2016. Liz Gateley, Executive Vice President and Head of Programming for Lifetime, stated that the intent was to develop "content that redefines what it means to be a Lifetime show." [4] The production received some media attention for booking Courtney Love in a role. [6] [7] [8]

Broadcast

The pilot was originally scheduled to premiere on July 28, 2017 but was then moved to July 14 and then again to July 31, when it ultimately aired. [5]

Reception

Reviewer Duane of the website Shakespeare Geek gave the film a negative review, doubting the existence of "any Shakespeare of note" in it. [9]

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References

  1. Ausiello, Michael (October 21, 2016). "A Midsummer's Nightmare: Lifetime Thriller Adds Eric Balfour, 3 Others". Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  2. Petski, Denise (October 21, 2016). "'A Midsummer's Nightmare': Five Cast In Lifetime's Shakespearean Pilot".
  3. "'A Midsummer's Nightmare' thriller in the works at Lifetime". EW.com. Archived from the original on 2019-12-16. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
  4. 1 2 Wagmeister, Elizabeth (August 15, 2016). "Lifetime Greenlights Pilot for Shakespeare Anthology Thriller 'A Midsummer's Nightmare' (EXCLUSIVE)".
  5. 1 2 "Get Lost In Lifetime's Twisted Take On Shakespeare While You Can". Bustle. 31 July 2017.
  6. "Lifetime Pilot "Midsummer's Nightmare" Books Courtney Love". November 3, 2016.
  7. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (November 3, 2016). "Courtney Love Joins Lifetime's Shakespeare Anthology 'A Midsummer's Nightmare'".
  8. "Courtney Love is starring in a Shakespeare adaptation for the Lifetime channel" . The Independent. November 4, 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-10-24.
  9. "Review : A Midsummer's Nightmare". August 2, 2017.