Shakespeare Adaptations
by moonchile | created - 4 months ago | updated - 3 weeks ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Troilus & Cressida (1981 TV Movie)
190 min | Drama
During the Trojan War, a Trojan warrior is distraught when his lover takes up with a Greek.
Director: Jonathan Miller | Stars: Charles Gray, Anton Lesser, Tony Steedman, Suzanne Burden
Votes: 149
2. 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: 33,522 | Gross: $0.76M
3. Titus (1999)
R | 162 min | Drama, History, Thriller
Titus returns victorious from war, only to plant the seeds of future turmoil for himself and his family.
Director: Julie Taymor | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Osheen Jones, Dario D'Ambrosi
Votes: 21,469 | Gross: $1.92M
4. 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: 244,861 | Gross: $46.35M
5. West Side Story (2021)
PG-13 | 156 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
An adaptation of the 1957 musical, West Side Story explores forbidden love and the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez
Votes: 95,599
6. Romeo & Juliet (2021 TV Movie)
95 min | Drama, Romance
Adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy set in modern-day Italy where two young lovers strive to transcend a violent world where Catholic and secular values clash.
Director: Simon Godwin | Stars: Fisayo Akinade, Jessie Buckley, Ella Dacres, Deborah Findlay
Votes: 700
7. Julius Caesar (1953)
Not Rated | 120 min | Drama, History
The growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Louis Calhern, Marlon Brando, James Mason, John Gielgud
Votes: 12,887
8. Caesar Must Die (2012)
Unrated | 77 min | Drama
Inmates at a high-security prison in Rome prepare for a public performance of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar."
Directors: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani | Stars: Cosimo Rega, Salvatore Striano, Giovanni Arcuri, Antonio Frasca
Votes: 6,813
9. Macbeth (I) (2015)
R | 113 min | Drama, History, War
Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
Director: Justin Kurzel | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jack Madigan, Frank Madigan
Votes: 59,517 | Gross: $1.11M
10. The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
R | 105 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A Scottish lord becomes convinced by a trio of witches that he will become the next King of Scotland, and his ambitious wife supports him in his plans of seizing power.
Director: Joel Coen | Stars: Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Alex Hassell, Bertie Carvel
Votes: 39,729
11. Hamlet (1990)
PG | 135 min | Drama
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, finds out that his uncle Claudius killed his father to obtain the throne, and plans revenge.
Director: Franco Zeffirelli | Stars: Mel Gibson, Glenn Close, Alan Bates, Paul Scofield
Votes: 23,613 | Gross: $20.71M
12. Hamlet (1996)
PG-13 | 242 min | Drama
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarrying the murderer, his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Julie Christie, Derek Jacobi, Kate Winslet
Votes: 40,059 | Gross: $4.41M
13. Hamlet (2009 TV Movie)
PG | 180 min | Drama
The RSC puts a modern spin on Shakespeare's Hamlet in this filmed-for-television version of their stage production. The Prince of Denmark seeks vengeance after his father is murdered and his mother marries the murderer.
Director: Gregory Doran | Stars: David Tennant, Patrick Stewart, Penny Downie, Oliver Ford Davies
Votes: 3,799
14. King Lear (2018 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 115 min | Drama
An aging King invites disaster when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.
Director: Richard Eyre | Stars: Jim Broadbent, Jim Carter, Tobias Menzies, Emily Watson
Votes: 4,307
15. King Lear (2008 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 156 min | Drama
Sir Ian McKellen gives a tour-de-force performance as Shakespeare's tragic monarch, in this special television adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company production of one of the playwright's most enduring and haunting works.
Director: Trevor Nunn | Stars: Ian McKellen, William Gaunt, Philip Winchester, Ben Meyjes
Votes: 662
16. King Lear (1987)
PG | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
A descendant of Shakespeare tries to restore his plays in a world rebuilding itself after the Chernobyl catastrophe obliterates most of human civilization.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Woody Allen, Freddy Buache, Leos Carax, Julie Delpy
Votes: 1,488 | Gross: $0.06M
17. Othello (1995)
R | 123 min | Drama, Romance
The Moorish General Othello is manipulated into thinking that his new wife Desdemona has been carrying on an affair with his Lieutenant Michael Cassio, when in reality, it is all part of the scheme of a bitter Ensign named Iago.
Director: Oliver Parker | Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Kenneth Branagh, Irène Jacob, Nathaniel Parker
Votes: 10,180 | Gross: $2.11M
18. Othello (2001 TV Movie)
100 min | Drama
Shakespeare's Othello retold in modern London; racial tension in the police force collides with jealousy and revenge. An officer suspects his new bride of infidelity.
Director: Geoffrey Sax | Stars: Eamonn Walker, Christopher Eccleston, Keeley Hawes, Richard Coyle
Votes: 667
19. Othello (1981 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 195 min | Drama, Romance
General Othello (Sir Anthony Hopkins) becomes convinced that his wife is having an affair, even though there is no evidence.
Director: Jonathan Miller | Stars: Anthony Pedley, Bob Hoskins, Geoffrey Chater, Alexander Davion
Votes: 488
20. Antony and Cleopatra (1972)
Not Rated | 160 min | Drama, History
After the murder of her lover Caesar, Egypt's queen Cleopatra needs a new ally. She seduces his probable successor Mark Antony. This develops into real love and slowly leads to a war with the other possible successor: Octavius.
Director: Charlton Heston | Stars: Charlton Heston, Hildegard Neil, Eric Porter, John Castle
Votes: 1,203
21. Cymbeline (2014)
R | 98 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A gritty story of a take-no-prisoners war between dirty cops and an outlaw biker gang. A drug kingpin is driven to desperate measures.
Director: Michael Almereyda | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Ed Harris, Milla Jovovich, John Leguizamo
Votes: 4,261
22. The Hollow Crown (2012–2016)
TV-14 | 150 min | Drama, History, War
A mini-series of adaptations of Shakespeare's history plays: Richard II, Henry IV: Parts 1 and 2, and Henry V.
Stars: Anton Lesser, Simon Russell Beale, Tom Georgeson, John Mackay
Votes: 7,318
23. The King (I) (2019)
R | 140 min | Biography, Drama, History
Young Henry V encounters deceit, war and treachery after becoming King of England in the 15th century, in the aftermath of his brother's death.
Director: David Michôd | Stars: Tom Glynn-Carney, Gábor Czap, Tom Fisher, Edward Ashley
Votes: 152,950
24. Henry V (1989)
PG-13 | 137 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Simon Shepherd, James Larkin
Votes: 31,660 | Gross: $10.16M
25. The Tempest (I) (2010)
PG-13 | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Shakespeare's epic play is translated from page to screen, with the gender of the main character, Prospero, changed from male to female.
Director: Julie Taymor | Stars: Helen Mirren, Felicity Jones, Djimon Hounsou, Russell Brand
Votes: 8,201 | Gross: $0.28M
26. The White Queen (2013)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, History, Romance
Three different, yet equally relentless women vie for the throne in 15th-century England.
Stars: Aneurin Barnard, Rebecca Ferguson, Amanda Hale, Faye Marsay
Votes: 31,412
27. A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Lovers' lives are complicated by city law, feuding faerie royalty, and... love.
Director: Michael Hoffman | Stars: Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Stanley Tucci
Votes: 26,982 | Gross: $16.07M
28. 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: 385,542 | Gross: $38.18M
29.
Great Performances (1971– )
Episode:
Macbeth
(2010)
Not Rated | 160 min | Music, Musical
Sir Patrick Stewart stars in a gripping Tony-nominated production.
Director: Rupert Goold | Stars: Patrick Stewart, Kate Fleetwood, Oliver Burch, Suzanne Burden
Votes: 1,245
30. Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
PG-13 | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Young lovers, and soon to wed, Hero and Claudio conspire to get verbal sparring partners and confirmed singles, Benedick and Beatrice, to wed as well.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Keanu Reeves, Kate Beckinsale
Votes: 52,014 | Gross: $22.55M
31. Rosaline (2022)
PG-13 | 95 min | Comedy, Romance
A comedic retelling of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," told from the point of view of Romeo's jilted ex, Rosaline, the woman Romeo first claims to love before he falls for Juliet.
Director: Karen Maine | Stars: Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced, Sean Teale, Kyle Allen
Votes: 9,944
32. She's the Man (2006)
PG-13 | 105 min | Comedy, Romance, Sport
When her brother decides to ditch for a couple weeks, Viola heads over to his elite boarding school, disguised as him, and proceeds to fall for his school's star soccer player, and soon learns she's not the only one with romantic troubles.
Director: Andy Fickman | Stars: Amanda Bynes, Laura Ramsey, Channing Tatum, Vinnie Jones
Votes: 175,868 | Gross: $2.34M
33. Shakespeare in Love (1998)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, History
The world's greatest ever playwright, William Shakespeare, is young, out of ideas and short of cash, but meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays.
Director: John Madden | Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 234,384 | Gross: $100.32M
34. Anonymous (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 130 min | Drama, Thriller
The theory that it was in fact Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford, who penned Shakespeare's plays. Set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I and the Essex rebellion against her.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, David Thewlis, Sebastian Armesto
Votes: 42,136 | Gross: $4.46M
35. Ophelia (I) (2018)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A reimagining of Hamlet, told from Ophelia's perspective.
Director: Claire McCarthy | Stars: Daisy Ridley, Mia Quiney, Calum O'Rourke, Nathaniel Parker
Votes: 13,055 | Gross: $0.05M
36. Lady Macbeth (2016)
R | 89 min | Drama, Romance
In 19th-century rural England, a young bride who has been sold into marriage discovers an unstoppable desire within herself as she enters into an affair with a worker on her estate.
Director: William Oldroyd | Stars: Florence Pugh, Cosmo Jarvis, Paul Hilton, Naomi Ackie
Votes: 27,297 | Gross: $1.13M
37. 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: 9,992 | Gross: $1.57M
38. 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: 61,768 | Gross: $6.40M
39. Il maledetto (2022)
111 min | Crime
A small time bandit climbs the mob's hierarchies up to the top but succumbs to his unlimited ambitions's madness.
Director: Giulio Base | Stars: Lucia Zotti, Gianni D'Addario, Cinzia Clemente, Nicola Nocella
Votes: 15
40. King Lear (2018)
147 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The feature length version following on from a short film in 2017 entitled The tragedy of King Lear.
Director: Stephen Armourae | Stars: Stephen Armourae, Charlie Bond, Sherine Chalhie, Claire Cooper-King
Votes: 17
41. The Merchant of Venice (I) (2016)
150 min | Drama
Antonio and his friend Bassanio borrow money from Shylock, a rich Jew, so that Bassanio may marry. When the payment is due, Bassanio can't pay and Shylock demands a pound of his flesh.
Directors: Robin Lough, Jonathan Munby | Stars: Dominic Mafham, Brian Martin, Regé-Jean Page, Daniel Lapaine
Votes: 54
42. Hamlet (2018 TV Movie)
191 min | Drama
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarrying the murderer, his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
Directors: Robert Icke, Rhodri Huw, Ilinca Radulian | Stars: Andrew Scott, Juliet Stevenson, Jessica Brown Findlay, Luke Thompson
Votes: 515
43. I, Timon (2017)
78 min | Drama, Thriller
Shakespeare's forgotten masterpiece of a good man in an evil world.
Directors: Bramwell Noah, Dan Noah | Stars: Kylie Azzopardi, Kain Baigent, Melissa Barlas, Tiannah Clark
Votes: 2,935
44. The Tempest (IV) (2010)
131 min | Drama
Exiled Prospero lives on a desolate island with his daughter, Miranda. When Prospero's usurping brother sails by the island, Prospero conjures a storm that wrecks the ship and changes all of their lives.
Director: Des McAnuff | Stars: Christopher Plummer, Geraint Wyn Davies, John Vickery, Dion Johnstone
Votes: 162
45. Richard III (1995)
R | 110 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, War
The classic Shakespearean play about the murderously scheming 15th-century king is reimagined in an alternative setting of 1930s England as clouds of fascism gather.
Director: Richard Loncraine | Stars: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Christopher Bowen, Edward Jewesbury
Votes: 15,575 | Gross: $2.60M
46. King Lear (1999)
Not Rated | 190 min | Drama
King Lear, old and tired, divides his kingdom among his daughters, giving great importance to their protestations of love for him. When Cordelia, youngest and most honest, refuses to idly ... See full summary »
Directors: Brian Blessed, Tony Rotherham | Stars: Brian Blessed, Hildegard Neil, Jason Riddington, Phillipa Peak
Votes: 99
47. Twelfth Night (1996)
PG | 134 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Shakespeare's comedy of gender confusion, in which a girl disguises herself as a man to be near the count she adores, only to be pursued by the woman he loves.
Director: Trevor Nunn | Stars: Helena Bonham Carter, Richard E. Grant, Imogen Stubbs, Steven Mackintosh
Votes: 6,404 | Gross: $0.59M
48.
The BBC Television Shakespeare (1978–1985)
Episode:
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
(1980)
TV-14 | 210 min
Hamlet suspects his uncle has murdered his father to claim the throne of Denmark and the hand of Hamlet's mother, but the Prince cannot decide whether or not he should take vengeance.
Directors: Rodney Bennett, John Gorrie | Stars: Derek Jacobi, Claire Bloom, Patrick Stewart, Eric Porter
Votes: 665
49.
The BBC Television Shakespeare (1978–1985)
Episode:
Julius Caesar
(1979)
TV-14 | 161 min
The assassination of the would be ruler of Rome at the hands of Brutus and company has tragic consequences for Brutus and the republic.
Director: Herbert Wise | Stars: Richard Pasco, Charles Gray, Keith Michell, David Collings
Votes: 258
50.
The BBC Television Shakespeare (1978–1985)
Episode:
Romeo & Juliet
(1978)
TV-14 | 168 min
Two teenagers fall in love, but their feuding families and fate itself cause the relationship to end in tragedy.
Director: Alvin Rakoff | Stars: Patrick Ryecart, Rebecca Saire, Celia Johnson, Michael Hordern
Votes: 465
51. Macbeth (1983 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 148 min | Drama
Macbeth and his wife murder Duncan in order to gain his crown, but the bloodbath doesn't stop there, and things supernatural combine to bring the Macbeths down.
Director: Jack Gold | Stars: Brenda Bruce, Eileen Way, Anne Dyson, Mark Dignam
Votes: 390
52. The Wars of the Roses (1965–1966)
Drama
A filmed theatre production of four of Shakespeare's historical plays condensed down into a trilogy.
Stars: David Warner, Peggy Ashcroft, Donald Burton, Alan Tucker
Votes: 83
53. Julius Caesar (2011)
117 min | Drama
William Shakespeare's epic tale of conspiracy, loyalty and betrayal. Rome is destroyed, their world has crumbled, but life must go on. Survival drives people in a broken world, where ... See full summary »
Directors: Adam Lee Hamilton, John Montegrande | Stars: Jordan Daws, Paul Syrstad, Saul Matlock, Ryan Jay Jones
Votes: 44
54. Shakespeare in Love (1998)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, History
The world's greatest ever playwright, William Shakespeare, is young, out of ideas and short of cash, but meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays.
Director: John Madden | Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 234,384 | Gross: $100.32M
55. Measure for Measure (I) (2019)
107 min | Drama
The lives of inhabitants of a housing commission tower whose paths cross after a shocking event occurs on their front doorstep.
Director: Paul Ireland | Stars: Hugo Weaving, Fayssal Bazzi, Harrison Gilbertson, Daniel Henshall
Votes: 380
56. The Comedy of Errors (1978 TV Movie)
130 min | Comedy, Musical
The Royal Shakespeare Company act (and sing and dance!) Shakespeare's play about two sets of identical twins, separated at birth and brought together by circumstance.
Director: Philip Casson | Stars: Brian Coburn, Griffith Jones, Roger Rees, Mike Gwilym
Votes: 83
57. Shakespeare's Globe Theatre: The Comedy of Errors (2015)
140 min | Comedy
Basing his plot on a farce by Plautus, Shakespeare caps the mayhem of his Roman original to build up a hectic tale of violent cross-purposes, furious slapstick and social nightmare.
Director: Blanche McIntyre | Stars: Simon Harrison, Matthew Needham, Brodie Ross, Jamie Wilkes
Votes: 38
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