Dr Who and Misfits stars join forces in new film

Karen Gillan, Dr Who's flame-haired assistant Amy Pond, and Misfits' Robert Sheehan are to star together in a US remake of the tragic Shakespearian lovers story, called Romeo and Brittney (aka Romeo and Gertrude), written and directed by comedian and writer David Baddiel.

Karen is to play a spiky New Jersey high school teenager who finds herself trapped Alice In Wonderland-style in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Gillan wakes up in mythical 13th century Verona with all the people she knows from her high school life playing characters in the play. And she wants to get out because she knows how the play ends.

Gillian Anderson will play the dual roles of Gillan’s mother and the Nurse.

Robert Sheehan will play the school nerd who becomes her Romeo. "It's a tongue-in-cheek spin on the whole tragic lovers' romance and set in New Jersey. There are no guns or drugs," was Robert's take on the new film last month, when the search was still on to find his 'Juliet'.

The project is being pitched as “Shakespeare In Love meets Clueless.” According to producer Arvind Ethan David: “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 On the Shrew just as Clueless was based on Jane Austen’s Emma and Easy A is inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. And what is Twilight if it’s not Romeo and Juliet with vampires and werewolves?”
The film is due to start shooting in May.