But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is Sony Pictures and their own attempt at bringing Shakespeare’s classic star-crossed love story Romeo & Juliet to life. The project is called Verona—the name of the Italian city in which the play is set—and was written on spec in a “competitive situation” created by Sony’s Hannah Minghella, The Hollywood Reporter confirms. Neil Widener and Gavin James penned the screenplay with Disney-adapter Joe Roth (Maleficent, Snow White and the Huntsman) attached to produce.
Details are currently being kept under wraps, though the script is said to “reimagine the love story through the lens of an epic, 300-style world.” Based on the Zack Snyder creation, this could mean submerging the Montagues and Capulets in a heightened reality with intensive emotions and stylized action/violence. Baz Luhrmann’s modern-day retelling starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, Romeo + Juliet (1996), could be described in a similar way. Hopefully Verona can offer its own unique interpretation and add something distinctive to the story that will draw audiences to the box office, especially after the 2013 adaptation starring Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) hit theaters to limited success.
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