William Shakespeare Inspired Movie Adaptations
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is the most adapted writer in the history of cinema and has averaged over 10 screen adaptations credits a year over the past 115 years. In honor of his work, a retrospective of the most popular worldwide adaptations inspired by a Shakespearean work as determined by their IMDb vote totals on the 400th Anniversary of William Shakespeare's death on April 23, 1616.
Which movie adaptation inspired by a William Shakespeare work is your favorite?
Cast your vote here or Discuss the topic here.
Which movie adaptation inspired by a William Shakespeare work is your favorite?
Cast your vote here or Discuss the topic here.
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- DirectorRoger AllersRob MinkoffStarsMatthew BroderickJeremy IronsJames Earl JonesLion prince Simba and his father are targeted by his bitter uncle, who wants to ascend the throne himself.Shakespeare Work: Hamlet
Country: United States - DirectorGil JungerStarsHeath LedgerJulia StilesJoseph Gordon-LevittA 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.Shakespeare Work: Taming of the Shrew
Country: United States - DirectorBaz LuhrmannStarsLeonardo DiCaprioClaire DanesJohn LeguizamoShakespeare's famous play is updated to the hip modern suburb of Verona still retaining its original dialogue.Shakespeare Work: Romeo and Juliet
Country: United States - DirectorAndy FickmanStarsAmanda BynesLaura RamseyChanning TatumWhen 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.Shakespeare Work: Twelfth Night
Country: United States - DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTatsuya NakadaiAkira TeraoJinpachi NezuIn Medieval Japan, an elderly warlord retires, handing over his empire to his three sons. However, he vastly underestimates how the new-found power will corrupt them and cause them to turn on each other...and him.Shakespeare Work: King Lear
Country: Japan - DirectorJerome RobbinsRobert WiseStarsNatalie WoodGeorge ChakirisRichard BeymerTwo youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.Shakespeare Work: Romeo and Juliet
Country: United States - DirectorAndrzej BartkowiakStarsJet LiAaliyahIsaiah WashingtonAn avenging cop seeks out his brother's killer and falls for the daughter of a businessman who is involved in a money-deal with his father.Shakespeare Work: Romeo and Juliet
Country: United States - DirectorKelly AsburyStarsJames McAvoyEmily BluntMaggie SmithSeparated by a garden fence and a feud, are blue gnomes on one side and red gnomes on the other. This doesn't stop blue Gnomeo and red Juliet from falling in love with each other. Do they have a future together?Shakespeare Work: Romeo and Juliet
Country: United Kingdom/United States - DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsKenneth BranaghEmma ThompsonKeanu ReevesYoung lovers, and soon to wed, Hero and Claudio conspire to get verbal sparring partners and confirmed singles, Benedick and Beatrice, to wed as well.Shakespeare Work: Much Ado About Nothing
Country: United Kingdom/United States - DirectorGus Van SantStarsRiver PhoenixKeanu ReevesJames RussoTwo 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.Shakespeare Work: Henry IV and Henry V
Country: United States - DirectorVishal BhardwajStarsShahid KapoorTabuShraddha KapoorA young man returns to Kashmir after his father's disappearance to confront his uncle, whom he suspects of playing a role in his father's fate.India Shakespeare Work: Hamlet
Country: United Kingdom - DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMinoru ChiakiIsuzu YamadaA war-hardened general, egged on by his ambitious wife, works to fulfill a prophecy that he would become lord of Spider's Web Castle.Shakespeare Work: MacBeth
Country: UJapan - DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsKenneth BranaghJulie ChristieDerek JacobiHamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarrying the murderer, his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.Shakespeare Work: Hamlet
Country: United Kingdom/United States - DirectorFred M. WilcoxStarsWalter PidgeonAnne FrancisLeslie NielsenA starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilization.Shakespeare Work: The Tempest
Country: United States - DirectorMichael RadfordStarsAl PacinoJoseph FiennesLynn CollinsIn 16th century Venice, when a merchant must default on a large loan from an abused Jewish moneylender for a friend with romantic ambitions, the bitterly vengeful creditor demands a gruesome payment instead.Shakespeare Work: The Merchant of Venice
Country: United States/Italy/Luxemburg/United Kingdom - DirectorJustin KurzelStarsMichael FassbenderMarion CotillardJack MadiganMacbeth, 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.Shakespeare Work: Macbeth
Country: United States/United Kingdom/France - DirectorRalph FiennesStarsRalph FiennesGerard ButlerBrian CoxA banished hero of Rome allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city.Shakespeare Work: Coriolanus
Country: United Kingdom - DirectorFranco ZeffirelliStarsLeonard WhitingOlivia HusseyJohn McEneryWhen two young members of feuding families meet, forbidden love ensues.Shakespeare Work: Romeo and Juliet
Country: United Kingdom/Italy - DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsKenneth BranaghDerek JacobiSimon ShepherdIn the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.Shakespeare Work: Henry V
Country: United Kingdom - DirectorMichael HoffmanStarsKevin KlineMichelle PfeifferRupert EverettLovers' lives are complicated by city law, feuding faerie royalty, and... love.Shakespeare Work: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Country: Italy/United Kingdom/United States - DirectorFranco ZeffirelliStarsMel GibsonGlenn CloseAlan BatesHamlet, Prince of Denmark, finds out that his uncle Claudius killed his father to obtain the throne, and plans revenge.Shakespeare Work: Hamlet
Country: United States/United Kingdom/France - DirectorTim Blake NelsonStarsMekhi PhiferJulia StilesMartin SheenAn update of Shakespeare's 'Othello' with a young cast, set in an upper class prep school, & centered around basketball player Odin.Shakespeare Work: Othello
Country: United States - DirectorJulie TaymorStarsAnthony HopkinsJessica LangeOsheen JonesTitus returns victorious from war, only to plant the seeds of future turmoil for himself and his family.Shakespeare Work: Titus Andronicus
Country: Italy/United Kingdom/United States - DirectorTom StoppardStarsGary OldmanTim RothRichard DreyfussTwo minor characters from the play 'Hamlet' stumble around unaware of their scripted lives and unable to deviate from them.Shakespeare Work: Hamlet
Country: United States/United Kingdom - DirectorTommy O'HaverStarsKirsten DunstBen FosterMelissa SagemillerA high school senior's girlfriend breaks up with him. His friends try to make him think of something else. His friend's sister Kelly helps him with the school musical. Spending time with Kelly has an effect.Shakespeare Work: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Country: United States - DirectorJoss WhedonStarsAlexis DenisofAmy AckerFran KranzA modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.Shakespeare Work: Much Ado About Nothing
Country: United States - DirectorSanjay Leela BhansaliStarsRanveer SinghDeepika PadukoneSupriya PathakModern adaptation of William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' with an Indian twist, the film focuses on the story of Ram and Leela, their love, lust and the drama afterwards.Shakespeare Work: Romeo and Juliet
Country: India - DirectorRick MoranisDave ThomasStarsRick MoranisDave ThomasMax von SydowCanada's most famous hosers, Bob and Doug McKenzie, get jobs at the Elsinore Brewery, only to learn that something is rotten with the state of it.Shakespeare Work: Hamlet
Country: Canada/United States - DirectorVishal BhardwajStarsAjay DevgnKareena KapoorSaif Ali KhanA politically-minded enforcer's misguided trust in his lieutenant leads him to suspect his wife of infidelity in this adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Othello'.Shakespeare Work: Othello
Country: India - DirectorLaurence OlivierStarsLaurence OlivierJean SimmonsJohn LauriePrince Hamlet struggles over whether or not he should kill his uncle, whom he suspects has murdered his father, the former king.Shakespeare Work: Hamlet
Country: United Kingdom - DirectorRichard LoncraineStarsIan McKellenAnnette BeningChristopher BowenThe classic Shakespearean play about the murderously scheming 15th-century king is reimagined in an alternative setting of 1930s England as clouds of fascism gather.Shakespeare Work: Richard III
Country: United Kingdom/United States - DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsJon FinchFrancesca AnnisMartin ShawA ruthlessly ambitious Scottish lord seizes the throne with the help of his scheming wife and a trio of witches.Shakespeare Work: Macbeth
Country: United Kingdom/United States - DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsLouis CalhernMarlon BrandoJames MasonThe 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.Shakespeare Work: Julius Caesar
Country: United States - DirectorJim AbrahamsStarsBette MidlerLily TomlinFred WardTwo couples of sisters from New York and from the countryside discover that they are connected in an incredible way.Shakespeare Work: Comedy of Errors
Country: United States - DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMasayuki MoriKyôko KagawaA vengeful young man marries the daughter of a corrupt industrialist in order to seek justice for his father's suicide.Shakespeare Work: Hamlet
Country: Japan - DirectorJoel CoenStarsDenzel WashingtonFrances McDormandAlex HassellA 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.Shakespeare Work: Macbeth
Country: United States