For the young Hailee Steinfeld, the Oscar-nominated star of “True Grit,” the world is her oyster. While Jennifer Lawrence has quickly turned Oscar glory into a lead role in a major franchise with “The Hunger Games,” Steinfeld hasn’t been in quite a rush to decide on what’s next. She, too, was briefly mentioned as a possible contender for a role in “The Hunger Games,” got attached to the tween “Memento”-like film “Forgotten” and was part of a Sleeping Beauty movie pitch that went around Hollywood, but no decisions had been made. But now, the young thesp looks booked in one of the oldest tales of them all.
THR reports that Steinfeld is in talks for a new big screen version of “Romeo & Juliet” that has a fresh script by celebrated scribe Julian Fellowes who wrote “Gosford Park” and the celebrated Brit series “Downton Abbey,” but also “The Tourist,” so the quality goes both ways.
This latest incarnation will be directed by Carlo Carlie who is probably best known for 1993’s “Flight of the Innocent,” but who also directed the 1995 ghost dog movie “Fluke” starring Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew Modine and Ron Perlman (we shit you not). We don’t know what to think about this.
Budgeted at $15 million, the film will shoot in Italy later this spring and it’s not known yet if it will keep the period setting or get updated with crunking or whatever producers do to make things more “hip” and “fly.” But seriously, do we need yet another “Romeo & Juliet” movie? The answer is no.
Zeffirelli’s movie was good and successful but far from perfect: it lacks suspense/action and it\’s staged like a play with a claustrophobic setting. Where is the beauty of Verona or of Northern Italy in his movie? Aside from Leonardo Di Caprio, I don’t see any other great things about Luhrmann’s modern version.
I think we still need another “Romeo and Juliet” and this new movie will certainly have a different take, which can appeal to the younger generations.
Agree with everyone here, A New Romeo & Juliet film is no harm to anyone. Its a popular story that can be encouraged to have its own different spin or take that seprates it from the other adaptations.
We may not need another \”Romeo & Juliet\” movie, but I certainly don\’t see why we should discourage one. The Zefferelli and the Luhrmann films both have their merits, but both are far from perfect. The director sounds like a dubious choice, but I\’d love to see Steinfeld–an actual fourteen-year-old with an ear for heightened language (her \”True Grit\” dialogue demanded the exact same abilities as Shakespeare)–take it on.
I can\’t imagine it being any worse than Baz Luhrmann\’s, so I\’ll give it a chance.
I think we do. I mean have we actually had an adapation of Romeo and Juliet where the actress playing Juliet was actually 14?
Is this a remake of Gnomeo and Juliet?
\”But seriously, do we need yet another “Romeo & Juliet” movie? The answer is no. \”
This kind of anti-art statement ticks me off.
Did we need Kenneth Branagh\’s 1996 \”Hamlet\”? According to your statement, no, but it turned out to be the best film adaptation of the play thus far.
Did we need a new \”True Grit\”? According to you, no, but it turned out to be a brilliant, classically-structured work of art.
Shakespeare tends to be a hard sell with audiences. If somebody wants to make a new movie based on one of his works, it\’s generally because they have a new and different perspective on which to take it. I hate Baz Luhrmann\’s \”Romeo + Juliet\”, but at least there was an original vision there.