Law was last seen on stage earlier this year, in Christopher Marlowe's tragedy, Dr. Faustus, directed by David Lan. That production involved Natural Nylon Theatre, which is co-owned by Law, and the company will no doubt also be involved in this production of Hamlet. Given Law's intelligent but moody sex appeal, he would be an ideal Hamlet, and he certainly has a feel for the period — playing Christopher Marlowe on film has been a long-touted ambition of his.

If everything works out and we see him as Hamlet on a West End stage next year, the play will be one of the hottest tickets in town.

Law is, these days, best known as a film star, but his background is in theatre, and like Ralph Fiennes he likes to return to the stage while maintaining a highly lucrative career in the movies.

The choice of director will be crucial, and competition for the role will be fierce. David Lan (who also directed Law in Ion at the Barbican's Pit) would be an obvious choice, but then so might Sean Matthias, who directed him in Les Parents Terribles at the National in the early nineties, when Law was at the start of his career.