By: Nick Venable

While certain repeated cinematic adaptations get quite long in the tooth with each retelling – see A Christmas Carol – certain stories inevitably deserve to get told over and over, as viewed through the eyes of the next generation. For his first feature since 1995’s Fluke, Italian director Carlo Carlei chose to adapt William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, a love story as old as love itself, and filmgoers will finally have a chance to see the film later this year.

Variety reports Relativity Media has acquired the rights to Romeo and Juliet, a co-production from Amber Entertainment, Swarovski Entertainment and Echo Lake Entertainment. Echo Lake’s Doug Mankoff predictably says, “Relativity is the perfect company to release this generation’s Romeo and Juliet.” And if they weren’t, it’s not like anybody would go off poisoning themselves in front of their assumed dead lovers.

Carlei’s national roots played a part in the film’s production, which took place last year in Mantua, the Northern Italian city where Romeo found himself banished within the context of the play. Variety claims producers “have been touting Romeo and Juliet as an ageless story reimagined for the 21st Century and told in the traditional setting it was written (sic).” I’m not sure in what way the film bears any resemblance to the 21st century, but I’m willing to bet nobody is checking Twitter on their phones–and if they do, expect some serious groans from the audience.

The film stars Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth as the doomed lovers, and they’re joined by a talented cast including Damien Lewis, Natasha McElhone, Ed Westwick, Stellan Skarsgård and Paul Giamatti.

You can catch Romeo and Juliet in limited release starting on September 6, 2013. Check out the trailer for the film below. Do you think it could possibly do better than the record-breaking performance of Joss Whedon’s Shakespeare adaptation Much Ado About Nothing.

Source: Cinema Blend