No, this won't be a healthy serving of star-crossed love between a US soldier and an Iraqi girl. Instead we're jumping back in time just a little bit. Variety reports that an upcoming European and Iraqi co-production based on Shakespeare's famous romance, called The Flowers of Kirkuk. Iranian-born filmmaker Fabrizia Falzetti is helming the feature, with Hafsia Hersi attached to star.

The backdrop is not pretty -- the romance will take place during Saddam Hussein's ethnic cleansing in Kurdistan. Kirkuk was one of the cities that Saddam used chemical weapons against in the early '80s, and the romance will be between "a young woman from Baghdad and a Kurdish doctor who is trying to save the victims of Saddam's attacks." That's just a little more than warring families.

This film isn't just a political piece in plot -- Variety says that the project is being co-produced by Hero Talabani, wife of Iraqi president Jala Talabani. Right now, they're looking for extras by airing ads on Talabani's satellite channel, and hopefully we will hear more soon, especially once they find a Romeo.

Remember when 3D was considered tacky? It doesn't seem so long ago that I would mention old, wacky 3D films in conversation and get strange looks from people. "Why would you want to wear those annoying glasses?" It seemed like a quickly-faded fad, but not anymore. It looks like 3D is here to stay, and it isn't just influencing North American film. Variety reports that after the current rise in popularity of animated features, Central Partnership, an independent Russian production company, is getting into the game with a pricey stake in an upcoming 3D cartoon based on William Shakespeare's ultra-classic romance, Romeo and Juliet.

Peregrine is the working title for the film, which focuses on Mitya, a peregrine falcon who is adopted at birth by a family of pigeons. I imagine Mitya will fall for another bird species and thus tap into all that Romeo and Juliet goodness with warring families and ruffled feathers -- the film is set to include Moscow pigeons, sparrows, and falcons. Konstantin Khabensky, who will soon appear in the Angelina Jolie film Wanted as The Exterminator, will voice Mitya, while Renata Litvinova (The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish) will voice a pigeon named Galya. The film is set to fly into theaters later this year or early 2009.

The lengths at which people stretch the words of Shakespeare never cease to amaze me. Unlike other icons of literature, The Bard's writing has become a poo-poo platter starting point for creativity. I've seen it all – from Taming of the Shrew set in the Wild West to Macbeth at a fast food stand. Some of them have worked, and others have not. Beyond all of these, the Montague and Capulets seem to be everyone's favourite Shakespeare team. But lately, the famous warring households are being stretched to new levels.

Adaptation the first: Last year, Martha Fischer reported that things weren't over for Gnomeo and Juliet, an animated adaptation dealing with garden gnomes. There doesn't seem to be much news on the project, but it seems it still has two lead voices, Kate Winslet as Juliet, and prolific voice actor Greg Ellis.

Adaptation the second: Romeo and Juliet in werewolf love. Last year we shared that Agnes Bruckner and Olivier Martinez had joined Blood and Chocolate, a werewolf love story. Now, according to JoBlo and Fangoria, this story is a re-jig of the star-crossed lovers, although in this case, they're moon-crossed. Juliet, aka Vivian, is part of a long line of werewolves, and she inconveniently falls for a human. It's not enough to be a part of competing families. These days, you can't both be human. Fangoria is hosting some images from the film, which is looking a little cheesy with its glowing beasts.

So, we've got werewolves and garden gnomes now acting out Shakespeare's famous characters. What would he say if he were here today?