Comic to direct Shakesperean movie

David Baddiel is working on a new movie, which will star Doctor Who assistant Karen Gillan as another sort of time traveller.

In Romeo and Brittney, the actress will play a New Jersey high school student sent back to 13th century Verona, where everyone she knows has become a character in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

As well as writing the script, Baddiel will also be making his directing debut with the £4.4million film, which producer Arvind Ethan David is pitching as ’Shakespeare In Love meets Clueless’.

He said it was ‘another body-swap comedy along the same lines’ as The Infidel, the movie Baddiel wrote about a Muslim who discovers he is ethnically Jewish, which starred Omid Djalili.

He added: ‘We both love literate teen comedies and we wanted to do our own version.

‘After all, 10 Things I Hate About You was based on The Taming Of The Shrew just as Clueless was based on Jane Austen’s Emma. And what is Twilight if it’s not Romeo and Juliet with vampires and werewolves?’

Gillian Anderson has signed up to play both Gillan’s mother and the Shakespearean Nurse, while Romeo will be played by Robert Sheehan from E4’s Misfits.

Shooting is due to start in May, after Gillan finishes work on the latest Doctor Who series.

Published: 18 Nov 2010