William Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet has spawned many adaptations over the years, both direct and indirect, but no one has ever attempted to transform it into a TV series before, probably because everyone already knows the main characters die at the end. Apologies for the spoilers. But that doesn’t seem to concern ABC, who’s currently developing a Romeo And Juliet TV series, one that would likely fall under the direction of Catherine Hardwicke, who’s drawn deeply from that same archetypal well of star-crossed lovers separated by warring clans once before in Twilight. Hardwicke will join a creative staff that includes Twilight and Dear John producers Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen, as well as Todd Garner, best known for his work on the Kevin James comedies Paul Blart: Mall Cop and the upcoming The Zookeeper—a dream team collusion of angsty teen melodrama sensibilities and familiarity with fat men doing humorous fat man things. So two houses, both alike in dignity, as it were.
Unlike other, John Leguizamoed versions of Romeo And Juliet, this one would be a period drama that, beyond dealing with the romance of two rich kids who desperately want to do it, would also “peel away the curtain on the impetuous, incestuous, bloody, and violent relationships during the Renaissance in Verona,” an approach that could help the show live on once its main characters die (did we mention that already?), maybe as Hot Verona Nights or something like that.