Craig Pearce, screenwriter of Baz Luhrmann’s big screen adaptation of The Great Gatsby is turning his hand to a TV series on a very British subject, William Shakespeare.

Called Will, the project follows the young Shakespeare from the age of 24 when he heads to London to make a name for himself as a playwright.

The bard is getting the full-on rock star treatment from the Australian writer (pictured), who has been developing the TV project for some years.

He told the Sydney Morning Herald back in 2013: “‘Theatre back then was like rock and roll. It was a completely revolutionary form of popular entertainment. It was a very intense, visceral, exciting world… full of sex and violence.”

Pearce is a regular collaborator of Luhrmann, having worked on elaborately designed films such as Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet. It is likely he will produce an equally lavish interpretation with Will, as there is already a double Oscar-winning production designer on board.
 

Currently commissioned as a pilot for TNT, the production starts filming in the UK in the spring; a production company has been set up specifically for this venture.

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Craig Pearce pohto courtesy of Stephane L’hostis/Getty Images Ent.