Stars of 1968 film adaptation allege misleading information about nude scene

Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, stars of the 1968 film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, have revived a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures and Criterion Collections over a nude scene filmed when they were teenagers.

The lawsuit, revived on Wednesday, alleges that director Franco Zeffirelli misled them about the nude scenes in the film. Originally filmed in 35mm analogue format, the distribution rights only covered this format, not any other.

However, the suit claims that a digital version of the film, now distributed in ‘extremely high definition,’ exposes Hussey’s breasts and Whiting’s behind, which were arguably obscured in the original low-resolution format.

The suit argues that the higher image resolution of the scene in the digital version means that their initial acquiescence in the inclusion of the scene does not apply.

The actors had previously attempted to sue Paramount last year, but the case was thrown out by a judge who ruled that the images in the film could not be classified as child sexual abuse images, citing First Amendment rights.

Now, Hussey and Whiting are seeking accountability and a more rigorous legal effort, stating that over half a century of mental incarceration for this traumatic event has been quite enough.

When the scene was filmed, Hussey was 15 and Whiting was 16.