Elton John is teaming up with one of Canada's largest 3D animation studios for his latest project - an animated spoof on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."

He will be in Toronto on May 26, 2009 to make an announcement at Starz Animation Toronto, a company that specializes in high-end computer-animated films. While a spokeswoman for the company would not reveal details of the announcement, Starz's website says it is currently in production on "Gnomeo and Juliet".

Elton and his Toronto-born partner David Furnish have long been working on the musical comedy through their film company, Rocket Pictures. In an interview in April 2009, Elton described it as the story of Romeo and Juliet - but with garden gnomes.

He said it will He also said production had begun in Toronto after roughly 11 years of planning.

"It's the story of Romeo and Juliet with garden gnomes and it's very funny," Elton said. "Bernie and I are writing the music, we're using a lot of Elton John catalogue in it as well."

Voices will reportedly be provided by "Atonement"'s James McAvoy, for Gnomeo, and Emily Blunt of "The Devil Wears Prada," for Juliet. "Gnomeo and Juliet" was originally conceived of as a big-budget project at Disney Animation. It's now under the helm of Disney's specialty unit, Miramax.

"It takes a long time to get these things together," Elton said of the lengthy process to get his vision to the big screen. Starz Animation Toronto recently wrapped production on the computer-animated fantasy "9," produced by Tim Burton.

A spokeswoman for Starz said more details would be releasedon May 25, 2009.

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