Today ABC announced that the new drama Still Star Crossed from Shonda Rhimes’s production company Shondaland will premiere May 29 according to Variety. The project was picked up last May and was originally scheduled to premiere in the 2017 midseason. The May 29 premiere will occur directly after the second episode of Season 13 of The Bachelorette which will premiere the previous Monday, May 22, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Still Star Crossed is a period drama set in 16th century Verona, created by Heather Mitchell and based on the book by Melinda Taub. It picks up the story of the famous star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet (perhaps you’ll recall a certain English bard called William Shakespeare wrote a play on the subject). However Still Star Crossed begins where Shakespeare ends: with the young lovers’ deaths. The series will explore the ill-fated and entwined fates of the feuding Montagues and Capulets.
Though in some universe the deaths of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet could have had a healing effect on the families, forcing them to realize what the violence and hatred between their families did to the relatively innocent, it wouldn’t make for very good television. Still Star Crossed is concerned with the treachery, intrigue, and you guessed it: more star crossed couples. This time Juliet’s cousin Rosaline (played by Lashana Lynch) and Benvolio of Montague (Wade Briggs) are being forced into a unwanted union by Prince Escalus (Sterling Sulieman). They’ll have to weasel their way out of the marriage through schemes and plots, and hopefully someone will plot revenge on that witless Friar.
Don’t worry though, our favorite naive couple will still be making regular appearances on the show. Clara Rugaard and Lucien Laviscount have been cast as recurring characters and will play Juliet Capulet and Romeo Montague respectively. Other regular cast members include Ebonée Noel as Rosaline’s sister Livia, Zuleikha Robinson as Lady Giuliana Capulet, Anthony Head as Lord Silvestro Capulet, and Grant Bowler as Damiano Montague. The full cast list can be found on IMDb.
Still Star Crossed will premiere Monday May 29 at 10 PM on ABC.