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Earlier this year, after two decades of being nearly impossible to watch, the theatrical cut of Milo\u0161 Forman<\/strong>‘s Amadeus<\/em> was rereleased, restoring the classic to what many contend is its finest form. The revision cuts some R-rated elements and shaves the runtime down by nearly 20 minutes.<\/p>\n The reissue righted a cinematic wrong mere months before a new miniseries posits, “OK, but what if Amadeus<\/em> was even longer?”<\/p>\n More from Gold Derby<\/strong><\/p>\n Hailing from British broadcaster Sky and creator Joe Barton<\/strong> (Black Doves<\/em>, Giri\/Haji<\/em>), the new Amadeus<\/em> adapted Peter Shaffer<\/strong>‘s stage play \u2014 just like the Forman film \u2014 and stars The White Lotus<\/em> Season 2’s Will Sharpe<\/strong> as Mozart and Emmy nominee Paul Bettany<\/strong> taking over the part of Salieri from The White Lotus<\/em> Season 2’s F. Murray Abraham<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The first trailer for the miniseries dropped yesterday, confusing some commenters in the process.<\/p>\n At the time of publication, the top comment under the YouTube version of the trailer correctly calls out the irony of Sky’s slogan “Believe in original stories.” The second most-liked comment asks, “Why on Earth would you make this?”<\/p>\n Now, it would be internet malpractice to discuss backlash to the new Amadeus<\/em> adaptation without taking Sharpe’s race into consideration. The actor, who previously worked with Barton on Giri\/Haji<\/em>, is half-Japanese, which is about objectionable as Bettany playing an android in WandaVision<\/em> when he’s clearly an organic human being. But a combination of racism and the widespread death of media literacy means that any naysaying for a project with race-swapping has to be taking with a pinch of salt.<\/p>\n With that out of the way, why on Earth would you make this?<\/p>\n Barton is an accomplished television creator, for sure. And he’s found two strong actors for his leads. But one has to wonder how the TV version of Amadeus<\/em> ends up being anything other than another example of “limited series that should’ve been a movie” when the movie already exists and won eight Oscars, including Best Picture.<\/p>\n Best of Gold Derby<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Gold Derby’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n