It started with a tweet last night – nothing but a link, from Nathan Fillion, pointing to a webpage that contains only a movie poster. “Much Ado About Nothing,” it announces, “A Film by Joss Whedon, Based on a Play.” With a list of actors – a very familiar list of actors, many of whom have starred in Whedon’s previous projects like Buffy, Angel, and Firefly. The poster also announces that principle photography has already been completed.

So did Joss Whedon really make a secret movie? It’s no secret that he’s a fan of Shakespeare, and it seems like just the sort of randomly awesome thing he would do. Actors have been coming out on Twitter to say it’s true, including Alyson Hannigan (who is married to Alexis Denisof, listed in the cast) and Sean Maher (listed in the cast).

Additionally, Pink is the New Blog has run a story that the blogger was actually an extra on the film – which includes the casting. According to that blog, here’s a partial list of who’s who!

Amy Acker (Angel, Dollhouse) – Beatrice
Alexis Denisof (Angel) – Benedict
Fran Kranz (Dollhouse) – Claudio
Jillian Morgese – Hero
Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Doctor Horrible) – Dogberry
Clark Gregg (The Avengers) – Leonato
Reed Diamond (Dollhouse) – Don Pedro
Emma Bates – Ursula
Joshua Zarr – Leonato’s Aide

Also listed on the poster are other actors who have appeared in Whedon’s shows: Sean Maher (Firefly), Tom Lenk (Buffy), Riki Lindhome (Buffy), and Ashley Johnson (Dollhouse).

Anyone else crazy excited about this prospect? It looks like the film doesn’t have a distributor yet, and I’m fully in favor of going the Dr. Horrible route and releasing online. It would be interesting to see if a feature-length film with some name actors could hold up on the format.  But either way: Joss + Shakespeare?  I’ll be the first in line.