Franco Zeffirelli’s “Romeo and Juliet” stars reunite for “Social Suicide”

PanARMENIAN.Net - Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey, who starred in the 1968 Romeo and Juliet film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, are reuniting for the first time in 46 years for a modern take on the film, Social Suicide, playing the Capulet parents of the character based on Juliet, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Social Suicide is a thriller inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, centering on a police investigation of the murder-suicides of social-media-savvy teenagers. The police investigate the romance and tragedy through videos, vlogs and snapchats, but soon discover nothing is as it seems.

Making the project a family affair, Hussey's real-life daughter, India Eisley, is starring as Julia. Eisley, who starred as Shailene Woodley's younger sister on The Secret Life of the American Teenager, most recently appeared in Kite with Samuel L. Jackson and Underworld: Awakening.

Bruce Webb (The Be All and End All) is directing the film, which also stars Jackson Bews as Balthaza. Principal photography started in South West London, England, on Tuesday and release is eyed for early 2015.

Whiting and Hussey starred in what was considered the most successful adaptation of a Shakespearean work at its time in the 1968 film, which won Academy Awards for best cinematography and best costume design, and was also nominated for best director and best picture. The film was popular with a younger audience, due in part to the young age of the actors at the time (Hussey was 15, and Whiting was 17), and the two actors were considered to be the next rising stars in film.

Whiting's most recent film role was in 1976's Rachel's Man. The British actor focused mostly on work in theater after that time, while Hussey kept working through the '90s and 2000's in film. She most recently starred in 2008's Three Priests.