Hollywood wants Keira Knightley to play Romeo's could-have-been lover even though the book hasn't even been published yet

Some material is just too good to wait for, so Hollywood has to pounce on the rights before the rest of the world can even get a taste.

This is the case of Rebecca Serle's debut novel When You Were Mine, which Fox 2000 Pictures has already called dibs on for a feature film future.

Cinema Blend reports that Serle's subject matter -- the ageless tragic romance of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet -- appealed to Hollywood power players right away, because the first-time author took an interesting point of view for her protagonist.

Instead of telling the well-known woe-is-me tale from the eyes of the star-crossed lovers, Serle's story comes from the mouth of Rosaline, who was Romeo's true love before he went around monologuing outside of Juliet's window.

The book doesn't even hit shelves until May, but Fox 2000 already has their eyes on the ideal Rosaline -- Pirates of the Caribbean beauty and period-piece vet Keira Knightley.

According to Vulture, any talks or offers for Knightley are in the very early stages of development, but the studio has definitely shown their interest in snagging the lithe Brit.

Cinema Blend reports that Fox 2000 put the project on the fast track, having already built a small team to help bring it to the big screen. They've recruited producer Shawn Levy and 500 Days of Summer scribes Scott Neustader and Michael H. Weber to adapt. Grey Gardens' Michael Sucsy is set to direct.

Vulture says that the film will be based in the sixteenth century, but will use modern dialogue.

Serle told Vulture that she plans to look at the movie and book as "two separate things."

"People could hate the movie, but love the book. Or they could hate the book, but love the movie. Or they could love the book and love the movie. Or they could hate both. To be perfectly frank, I don’t know how any of it is going to go," she said.

Serle even had her own vision of Rosaline, saying she could envision Roswell actress Shiri Appleby in the role.

Fox 2000 has a back-up plan as well. Vulture reports that aside from Knightley, the production team has also reached out to soon-to-be Snow White Lily Collins.