Nothing like age-appropriate casting to beckon young filmgoers to the Bard, as the trailer for a new big-screen interpretation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet hopes to prove once again. Given the heightened emotions on display, Twilight-deprived teens and tweens just might bite.
Seems like almost every generation deserves their version of the star-crossed lovers. Baby Boomers swooned for Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey in Franco Zefferelli’s 1968 rendition. Gen X kids had Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in Baz Luhrmann’s modern-day 1996 take.
Stepping into the middle of the Bard’s timeless family feud in this 21st-century edition are British newcomer and Whiting look-alike Douglas Booth and Hailee Steinfeld, the Oscar-nominated star of 2010′s True Grit.
Written by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, who won an original screenplay Oscar for 2001′s Gosford Park, this Romeo also features Damian Lewis of TV’sHomeland as Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet; Paul Giamatti as Friar Laurence; Stellan Skarsgard as the Prince of Verona; and Ed Westwick of TV’s Gossip Girl as Tybalt. No U.S date yet, although the film opens July 26 in the U.K.
