Cameron Engels and Selah and the Spades star Francesca Noel have been tapped to star as the famous star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet in a new adaptation of William Shakespeare’s popular play directed by Carey Williams.

The new film, R#J, will be modern rendition of the story and will be produced by Timur Bekmambetov and Igor Tsay’s Interface Films, reports Deadline.

The film will also star RJ Cyler (Power Rangers) as Benvolio, Siddiq Saunderson (Wu-Tang: An American Saga) as Mercutio and On My Block star Diego Tinoco as Tybalt. Along with directing the film, Williams also co-wrote the film with Rickie Castaneda. Other producers of the film also include Alex Sobolev and Anna Soboleva.

The Louisiana-set film is described as “a pulse-pumping mashup of Shakespearean language and ‘of the times’ vernacular for [the] social media infused generation,” and takes place through the cell phones of the Romeo and Juliet. Seeing how Bekmambetov and Tsay are behind social-media infused Unfriended and Searching, it’s easy to imagine how the film will immerse its audience in the world of online chatting and text messaging.

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Photo: Getty

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