Totally Austen
by clevecheng | created - 03 Aug 2013 | updated - 11 Aug 2013 | PublicModernizations of the classics. While I would love to include such classic turns as Keanu Reeves in Much Ado About Nothing or the "We Will Rock You" version of A Knight's Tale, I'll stick to movies with ostensibly contemporary settings (i.e., modern for the year of release).
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1. Carmen Jones (1954)
Approved | 105 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
Contemporary version of the Bizet opera, with new lyrics and an African-American cast.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Dandridge, Pearl Bailey, Olga James
Votes: 5,916
2. West Side Story (1961)
Approved | 153 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
Directors: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise | Stars: Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 121,164 | Gross: $43.66M
3. Tempest (1982)
PG | 140 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
John Cassavetes gives a compelling performance as a man confronting a mid-life crisis with extraordinary results for everyone around him.
Director: Paul Mazursky | Stars: John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Susan Sarandon, Vittorio Gassman
Votes: 2,700 | Gross: $5.01M
4. Roxanne (1987)
PG | 107 min | Comedy, Romance
The large-nosed C.D. Bales is in love with the beautiful Roxanne; she falls for his personality but another man's looks.
Director: Fred Schepisi | Stars: Steve Martin, Daryl Hannah, Rick Rossovich, Shelley Duvall
Votes: 47,669 | Gross: $40.05M
5. Scrooged (1988)
PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A selfish, cynical television executive is haunted by three spirits bearing lessons on Christmas Eve.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, John Glover
Votes: 116,419 | Gross: $60.33M
6. My Own Private Idaho (1991)
R | 104 min | Drama
Two best friends living on the streets of Portland as hustlers embark on a journey of self discovery and find their relationship stumbling along the way.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: River Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, James Russo, William Richert
Votes: 61,730 | Gross: $6.40M
7. Clueless (1995)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Romance
Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other.
Director: Amy Heckerling | Stars: Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd
Votes: 245,745 | Gross: $56.63M
8. Romeo + Juliet (1996)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, Romance
Shakespeare's famous play is updated to the hip modern suburb of Verona still retaining its original dialogue.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo, Harold Perrineau
Votes: 244,725 | Gross: $46.35M
9. Great Expectations (1998)
R | 111 min | Drama, Romance
Modernization of Charles Dickens' classic story finds the hapless Finn as a painter in New York City pursuing his unrequited and haughty childhood love.
Director: Alfonso Cuarón | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hank Azaria, Chris Cooper
Votes: 56,903 | Gross: $26.33M
10. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A high-school boy, Cameron, cannot date Bianca until her anti-social older sister, Kat, has a boyfriend. So, Cameron pays a mysterious boy, Patrick, to charm Kat.
Director: Gil Junger | Stars: Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik
Votes: 385,058 | Gross: $38.18M
11. She's All That (1999)
PG-13 | 95 min | Comedy, Romance
A high school jock makes a bet that he can turn an unattractive girl into the school's prom queen.
Director: Robert Iscove | Stars: Freddie Prinze Jr., Rachael Leigh Cook, Matthew Lillard, Paul Walker
Votes: 103,788 | Gross: $63.37M
12. Hamlet (2000)
R | 112 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
Modern-day New York City adaptation of Shakespeare's immortal story about Hamlet's plight to avenge his father's murder.
Director: Michael Almereyda | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Kyle MacLachlan, Diane Venora, Sam Shepard
Votes: 9,989 | Gross: $1.57M
13. Scotland, Pa. (2001)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Crime
In a modernized retelling of "MacBeth" set in 1970s suburban Pennsylvania, Joe McBeth, an unambitious hamburger stand employee, is driven to success by his scheming wife.
Director: Billy Morrissette | Stars: James Le Gros, Maura Tierney, Christopher Walken, Kevin Corrigan
Votes: 4,807 | Gross: $0.38M
14. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Bridget Jones is determined to improve herself while she looks for love in a year in which she keeps a personal diary.
Director: Sharon Maguire | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Gemma Jones
Votes: 263,409 | Gross: $71.54M
15. O (2001)
R | 95 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
An update of Shakespeare's 'Othello' with a young cast, set in an upper class prep school, & centered around basketball player Odin.
Director: Tim Blake Nelson | Stars: Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles, Martin Sheen, Josh Hartnett
Votes: 21,919 | Gross: $16.02M
16. Bride & Prejudice (2004)
PG-13 | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
A modern adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel, Pride and Prejudice, that features the lives of four unmarried daughters in an Indian family.
Director: Gurinder Chadha | Stars: Martin Henderson, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Nadira Babbar, Anupam Kher
Votes: 21,666 | Gross: $6.61M
17. Rent (2005)
PG-13 | 135 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
In New York City's gritty East Village, a group of bohemians strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Rapp
Votes: 55,914 | Gross: $29.08M
18. Sherlock (2010–2017)
TV-14 | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The quirky spin on Conan Doyle's iconic sleuth pitches him as a "high-functioning sociopath" in modern-day London. Assisting him in his investigations: Afghanistan War vet John Watson, who's introduced to Holmes by a mutual acquaintance.
Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Una Stubbs, Rupert Graves
Votes: 997,752
19. From Prada to Nada (2011)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
A Latina spin on Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility": two spoiled sisters who have been left penniless after their father's sudden death are forced to move in with their estranged aunt in East Los Angeles.
Director: Angel Gracia | Stars: Camilla Belle, Alexa PenaVega, Kuno Becker, Tina French
Votes: 15,617 | Gross: $3.02M
20. Coriolanus (2011)
R | 123 min | Drama, Thriller, War
A banished hero of Rome allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city.
Director: Ralph Fiennes | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Brian Cox, Lubna Azabal
Votes: 33,513 | Gross: $0.76M
21. Much Ado About Nothing (I) (2012)
PG-13 | 109 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.
Director: Joss Whedon | Stars: Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, Fran Kranz, Jillian Morgese
Votes: 17,087 | Gross: $4.33M
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