By Ryan Sartor. Deborah Ann Woll, Hailee Steinfeld and Dave Franco have received offers to star in the Fox 2000 period comedy “Rosaline,” Variety reports. The title refers to the woman Romeo was fixated on at the beginning of “Romeo and Juliet” before falling in love with the one who died beside him. The film will be told from Rosaline’s point-of-view and set in 16th century Verona using modern language, a scenario that will no doubt drive Baz Luhrmann purists up a wall—and annoy a few Shakespeare fans as well. 14-year-old Steinfeld would be playing Juliet, with 26-year-old Franco taking on the role of Romeo and Woll as Rosaline. Creepy age difference aside, the film is a great opportunity for all three actors to show they can carry a movie—though some would argue Steinfeld already proved that with “True Grit.” The project is waiting to receive a greenlight from the studio, so no deals have been made and everything regarding the production is tentative. And as you might remember, the filmmakers tried to get Keira Knightley and Lily Collins during the summer to no avail and we’d reckon a thumbs up to start filming will be determined by getting a cast in place first.
A few months after Steinfeld was nominated for an Academy Award for “True Grit,” she had a more traditional Julian Fellowes-penned “Romeo and Juliet” project lined up with plans for her to play Juliet, though not much has been heard about it since other than bits and bobs of casting. It would be interesting to see Steinfeld play the classic character in two consecutive films, though we doubt her management would allow that to happen.
Dave Franco, brother of James, has been rising for a while now. After a tiny, memorable part in “Superbad” playing “Greg the Soccer Player,” he moved on to a regular TV gig on the one-year failed “Scrubs: Interns” experiment. Recently, Franco’s landed meaty supporting roles in “Fright Night” and the upcoming Jonah Hill-produced “21 Jump Street.” “True Blood” star Deborah Ann Woll was in talks with Paul Thomas Anderson for “The Master” a year ago (before it fell apart and had to start over), and she has since landed actual parts in “Highland Park,” the Zoe Kazan-penned “He Loves Me,” and the “cleverly”-titled “Catch .44.”
The “Rosaline” screenplay was written by Scott Neustader and Michael H. Weber, whose last film, “(500) Days of Summer,” won an Independent Spirit Award, an accolade that carries exactly no weight inside the studio system. Michael Sucsy will direct the “Rosaline” if it gets made. He is the force behind the well-regarded 2009 HBO film “Grey Gardens,” as well as the upcoming Rachel McAdams career-suicide vehicle “The Vow.”
