Anthony Hopkins appears as present-day King Lear in new photo

March 23 (UPI) -- The BBC has released the first photo of Anthony Hopkins and Florence Pugh as their characters from director Richard Eyre's contemporary adaptation of William Shakespeare's play King Lear.

Co-starring Emma Thompson and Emily Watson, the co-production with Amazon Studios is set to debut this spring. The TV tragedy about a mad monarch who divides his kingdom according to how well his daughters flatter him will also feature Jim Broadbent, Andrew Scott, John Macmillan, Jim Carter, Christopher Eccleston, Tobias Menzies, Anthony Calf and Karl Johnson.

"Set in the fictional present, King Lear sees Academy Award-winner Anthony Hopkins as the eponymous ruler, presiding over a totalitarian military dictatorship in England," a synopsis said.

The photo released this week shows Hopkins as Lear looking pensive and embracing Pugh as his youngest child Cordelia, who looks directly at the camera as he holds Lear's arm.

Hopkins is best known for his portrayal of serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs and several sequels. He and Thompson, who plays his daughter Goneril in King Lear, also starred together in 1993's The Remains of the Day and 1992's Howards End.

Pugh's credits include this year's The Commuter and 2016's Lady Macbeth.