The film is named after one of the late Bob Marley's biggest songs

The version will star Ky-Mani Marley, who will play Romeo.

Marley, who has followed his father's footsteps to become a musician and an actor, has called the project One Love, after one of the late Bob Marley's best known songs.

The film is to be made by Don Letts, a film-maker and musician best known for his long association with punk band The Clash.

Letts has won a grant from the UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund for nearly �1m to help finance the film.

Paul Trijbits, head of the fund, said: "The role of the New Cinema Fund is to develop tomorrow's cinema by supporting distinctive and diverse films and filmmakers of today."

Ky-Mani, 27, is the half-brother of Ziggy Marley. He recently appeared in the film Shottaz with Wyclef Jean and boxer Lennox Lewis.

He has also released two albums.

It is expected to have a cinema release later on in the year.

Other films that have received money from the fund have included The Magdelene Sisters and Bloody Sunday.

The Jamaica Romeo & Juliet is only the latest of many interpretations of the classic tragedy.

In 1996 Australian director Baz Luhrmann won international acclaim for his modern-day version set in Los Angeles, starring Clare Danes and Leonardo diCaprio.