James MacAvoy, Emily Blunt in Gnomeo and Juliet
Miramax, Rocket Pictures Adapt Shakespeare Tragedy For Gnomes
Aug 20, 2008
Actors James MacAvoy and Emily Blunt are currently in negotiations to voice the leads in Rocket Pictures and Miramax's upcoming movie, Gnomeo and Juliet.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie is a CGI animated film which takes William Shakespeare's immortal tragedy and brings it to the thrilling and chilling world of garden gnomes. MacAvoy (who headlined this summer's hit film Wanted) and Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada) will voice gnomes from rival gardens, who fall in love. Kate Winslet (Titanic) was originally cast as the Juliet character in the flick, but was forced to back out due to scheduling conflicts.
Elton John Produces CGI Film Based On Shakespeare Tragedy
Singer/songwriter Elton John, the founder of Rocket Pictures, will contribute a number of songs to the film. Apparently John's Lion King songwriting partner Tim Rice was approached to collaborate with John, but turned it down.
John will now write some new songs, and revamp some of his classics, for the flick, which he is producing alongside Baker Bloodworth, Steve Hamilton Shaw, and John's offscreen studmuffin David Furnish. John is said to be pursuing other big-name actors to also lend their voices to the movie.
John Lasseter, Ed Catmull Turned Down Gnomeo and Juliet
Rocket Pictures had originally pitched this "loose and edgy" adaptation for Walt Disney Feature Animation sometime in the early 2000's. However, Pixar co-founders John Lasseter and Ed Catmull promptly dumped the script when they took over at Disney Animation in May of 2006. At that point, Miramax president Daniel Battsek, who had followed the project while at Buena Vista International, persuaded Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook to revive it at his division.
Kelly Asbury (Shrek 2) takes the director's chair, working from an original script by Rob Sprackling and John R. Smith (Tortoise vs. Hare). Kevin Cecil (Slacker Cats), Andy Riley (Slacker Cats) and Mark Burton (Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit) are also credited with revisions to the screenplay. With so many writers behind the script, look for a happy ending to be tacked onto this animated version of Shakespeare's tragedy.
Gnomeo and Juliet is currently in the storyboarding stage, but Miramax expects production to be completed sometime in 2010.
Fun Fact: Actor Olivia Hussey beat out 500 other hopefuls to play Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. The film courted controversy when Zeffirelli convinced the 15-year-old Hussey to lose her clothes for the wedding night scene. As a result, Hussey was barred from the premiere, because the film featured nudity.
