What Happened To The Rupert Sanders Sci-Fi Romeo & Juliet Movie?
Rupert Sanders is coming out with a much-anticipated adaptation/ reboot when The Crow hits screens in August 2024. The director’s career doesn’t have a ton of title in it (so far) but what he’s made has at least generated buzz. And sometimes, that’s the name of the whole game.
Back in 2012, Rupert Sanders delivered a dark and Gothic version of the legendary Brothers Grimm fairy tale with Snow White and the Huntsman. The film launched Sanders’ career in Hollywood, though his affair with the film’s star, Kristen Stewart, made him a household name.
At the time, seemingly to capitalize on the success of both encounters, Sanders announced he was in talks to direct the film The Juliet for Sony.
According to CinemaBlend.com, the script was by Henry Bean (Basic Instinct 2, K Street) and would be a science fiction version of William Shakespeare’s well-known play, “Romeo & Juliet.”
The script was an adaptation of Alfred Bester’s short story of the same name and was due to start production in Spring 2013. Bester is best known for the books The Stars My Destination and The Demolished Man and for inspiring the name of Psi Cop Alfred Bester in J. Michael Straczynski’s Babylon 5.
But what happened to The Juliet and why did the Rupert Sanders sci-fi version of Romeo & Juliet not get off the ground? We are more than a decade later, and it looks like the flick is all but dead. When a movie goes this long without any word, no news is almost always bad news.
And to boot, it hasn’t been like anyone has picked up the The Juliet mantle either with plans to adapt. It just seems like a project that isn’t in the works anywhere with anyone attached.
There had been other Rupert Sanders rumors through the years, like the plans for him to direct the Van Helsing reboot with actor Tom Cruise, but that never materialized.
One very clear sign that Ruper Sanders had moved away from the sci-fi Romeo & Juliet movie was when Ghost in the Shell was released in 2017. Starring Scarlett Johansson in the movie adaptation of the popular anime, it sputtered at both the box office and with critics.
Seven years later, he’s adapting another popular title, this one The Crow reboot with Bill Skarsgård in the role originally made by the late Brandon Lee.
As for Romeo & Juliet, well, the Shakespearean couple has seen all kinds of adaptations throughout the years with the Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes version in 1994 likely the most recently popular. That one was helmed by Baz Luhrmann and from a pop culture standpoint has had the most staying power.
Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth re-upped the story in 2012 though that went largely unnoticed.
A sci-fi Romeo & Juliet movie is probably in the same place as the main characters, totally dead.
