It seems like it’s been quite a long while since we’ve seen a new version of the Bard’s classic Romeo & Juliet pop up. Perhaps Shakespeare’s most famous play, the last adaptation I can recall was Baz Luhrmann’s outstanding 1996 version with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as the star-crossed lovers. However, you may recall that it was set in contemporary times, making 1968 the last time we saw a classically-set, big screen adaptation of the play, with Franco Zeffirelli’s Oscar-winning film.
This makes a classic telling of the tale long-overdue, but luckily the team of director Carlo Carlei (The Flight of the Innocent, Fluke) and Oscar-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park, Downton Abbey) have taken care of that problem for us. This time around the doomed lovers are to be played by Douglas Booth (The Pillars of the Earth) and Oscar nominee (Hailee Steinfeld).
Today, via The Film Stage, we have a new poster and a theatrical trailer that shows off the beautiful settings of this latest adaptation, which also stars Damian Lewis, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ed Westwick and Paul Giamatti.
As a huge Shakespeare fan, I’m very much looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Steinfeld has already shown she’s a fantastic actress with her Oscar-nominated performance in True Grit, while Paul Giamatti is usually great in everything from Sideways to Cinderella Man. It’s a little strange for them to put the part of Romeo in an unknown actor’s hands (the only thing I’ve ever seen Booth in is the outstanding miniseries The Pillars of the Earth), but from the trailers, he seems to be able to handle the Shakespearean dialogue just fine, so I’m not too worried. If the trailer is indeed any indication, this could very well be just as good as the previous adaptations.
Romeo & Juliet arrives in theaters on October 11th.
Are you excited to see another adaptation of Romeo & Juliet? What do you think of this cast? Check out the trailer and poster and let us know in the comments below!
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