A post-Romeo & Juliet TV series is coming to ABC by way of Shondaland

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Before we get started here, let's get some SPOILER-ish business out the way, so we all know what we're discussing. This is a warning I shouldn't really have to make, considering ROMEO & JULIET is on the table, but, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Shakespeare's play somehow, this is your warning.

So, by the end of ROMEO & JULIET, everyone that really matters is dead.

Romeo… dead.

Juliet… dead.

Mercurio, Tybalt… dead, dead.

Friar Laurence and the Nurse make it through to the end okay, but you wouldn't really care to know all that much about how all the death affects them in any sort of follow-up. In fact, there aren't really any characters left who you would feel compelled to continue along with on the timeline.

But when has that stopped anyone from going ahead anyway?

A ROMEO & JULIET sequel television series is in development over at ABC, courtesy of Shondaland (the Shonda Rhimes production company that has already come up with such hits as GREY'S ANATOMY, SCANDAL and HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER for the network). Using Melinda Taub's 2013 young adult book as the basis, STILL STAR-CROSSED would tell the tale of the political marriage between Rosaline – Romeo's original crush – and Benevolio, his cousin, in order to keep the Capulet-Montague feud at bay. 

However, in true Shondaland fashion, the shit is bound to hit the fan at some point, and then we'll be off to the races.

But come on… Is this a story anyone ever wanted told, or, for that matter, was even curious about? There is ultimate finality in the end of ROMEO & JULIET, and to tread past that, seems rather foolish. But what the hell do I know? Shondaland has four other series, in various stages of development, on the horizon at ABC, and I have none. Fans swear by the company's numerous series. I only have people swearing at me for what I write sometimes.

I'm going to say one of us is doing okay for themselves… and the other is me.