Shakespeare Adaptations
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- DirectorJonathan MillerStarsCharles GrayAnton LesserTony SteedmanDuring the Trojan War, a Trojan warrior is distraught when his lover takes up with a Greek.
- DirectorRalph FiennesStarsRalph FiennesGerard ButlerBrian CoxA banished hero of Rome allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city.
- DirectorJulie TaymorStarsAnthony HopkinsJessica LangeOsheen JonesTitus returns victorious from war, only to plant the seeds of future turmoil for himself and his family.
- DirectorBaz LuhrmannStarsLeonardo DiCaprioClaire DanesJohn LeguizamoShakespeare's famous play is updated to the hip modern suburb of Verona still retaining its original dialogue.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsAnsel ElgortRachel ZeglerAriana DeBoseAn 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.
- DirectorSimon GodwinStarsFisayo AkinadeJessie BuckleyElla DacresAdaptation 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.
- 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.
- DirectorPaolo TavianiVittorio TavianiStarsCosimo RegaSalvatore StrianoGiovanni ArcuriInmates at a high-security prison in Rome prepare for a public performance of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar."
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorFranco ZeffirelliStarsMel GibsonGlenn CloseAlan BatesHamlet, Prince of Denmark, finds out that his uncle Claudius killed his father to obtain the throne, and plans revenge.
- 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.
- DirectorGregory DoranStarsDavid TennantPatrick StewartPenny DownieThe 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.
- DirectorRichard EyreStarsJim BroadbentJim CarterTobias MenziesAn aging King invites disaster when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.
- DirectorTrevor NunnStarsIan McKellenWilliam GauntPhilip WinchesterSir 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.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsWoody AllenFreddy BuacheLeos CaraxA descendant of Shakespeare tries to restore his plays in a world rebuilding itself after the Chernobyl catastrophe obliterates most of human civilization.
- DirectorOliver ParkerStarsLaurence FishburneKenneth BranaghIrène JacobThe 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.
- DirectorGeoffrey SaxStarsEamonn WalkerChristopher EcclestonKeeley HawesShakespeare'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.
- DirectorJonathan MillerStarsAnthony PedleyBob HoskinsGeoffrey ChaterGeneral Othello (Sir Anthony Hopkins) becomes convinced that his wife is having an affair, even though there is no evidence.
- DirectorCharlton HestonStarsCharlton HestonHildegard NeilEric PorterAfter 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.
- DirectorMichael AlmereydaStarsEthan HawkeEd HarrisMilla JovovichA gritty story of a take-no-prisoners war between dirty cops and an outlaw biker gang. A drug kingpin is driven to desperate measures.
- StarsAnton LesserSimon Russell BealeTom GeorgesonA mini-series of adaptations of Shakespeare's history plays: Richard II, Henry IV: Parts 1 and 2, and Henry V.
- DirectorDavid MichôdStarsTom Glynn-CarneyGábor CzapTom FisherYoung Henry V encounters deceit, war and treachery after becoming King of England in the 15th century, in the aftermath of his brother's death.
- 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.
- DirectorJulie TaymorStarsHelen MirrenFelicity JonesDjimon HounsouShakespeare's epic play is translated from page to screen, with the gender of the main character, Prospero, changed from male to female.
- StarsAneurin BarnardRebecca FergusonAmanda HaleThree different, yet equally relentless women vie for the throne in 15th-century England.
- DirectorMichael HoffmanStarsKevin KlineMichelle PfeifferRupert EverettLovers' lives are complicated by city law, feuding faerie royalty, and... love.
- 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.
- DirectorRupert GooldStarsPatrick StewartKate FleetwoodOliver BurchSir Patrick Stewart stars in a gripping Tony-nominated production.
- 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.
- DirectorKaren MaineStarsKaitlyn DeverIsabela MercedSean TealeA 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.
- 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.
- DirectorJohn MaddenStarsGwyneth PaltrowJoseph FiennesGeoffrey RushThe 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.
- DirectorRoland EmmerichStarsRhys IfansVanessa RedgraveDavid ThewlisThe 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.
- DirectorClaire McCarthyStarsDaisy RidleyMia QuineyCalum O'RourkeA reimagining of Hamlet, told from Ophelia's perspective.
- DirectorWilliam OldroydStarsFlorence PughCosmo JarvisPaul HiltonIn 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.
- DirectorMichael AlmereydaStarsEthan HawkeKyle MacLachlanDiane VenoraModern-day New York City adaptation of Shakespeare's immortal story about Hamlet's plight to avenge his father's murder.
- 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.
- DirectorGiulio BaseStarsLucia ZottiGianni D'AddarioNicola NocellaA small time bandit climbs the mob's hierarchies up to the top but succumbs to his unlimited ambitions's madness.
- DirectorStephen ArmouraeStarsStephen ArmouraeCharlie BondSherine ChalhieThe feature length version following on from a short film in 2017 entitled The tragedy of King Lear.
- DirectorRobin LoughJonathan MunbyStarsDominic MafhamBrian MartinRegé-Jean PageAntonio 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.
- DirectorRobert IckeRhodri HuwIlinca RadulianStarsAndrew ScottJuliet StevensonJessica Brown FindlayHamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarrying the murderer, his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
- DirectorBramwell NoahDan NoahStarsKylie AzzopardiKain BaigentMelissa BarlasShakespeare's forgotten masterpiece of a good man in an evil world.
- DirectorDes McAnuffStarsChristopher PlummerGeraint Wyn DaviesJohn VickeryExiled 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.
- 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.
- DirectorBrian BlessedTony RotherhamStarsBrian BlessedHildegard NeilJason RiddingtonKing 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 flatter the old man in return for favor, he banishes her and turns for support to his other two daughters. But Goneril and Regan have no love for him and instead plot to take all his power from him. In a parallel, Lear's loyal courtier Gloucester favors his illegitimate son Edmund after being told lies about his faithful son Edgar. Madness and tragedy befall both ill-starred fathers.
- DirectorTrevor NunnStarsHelena Bonham CarterRichard E. GrantImogen StubbsShakespeare'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.
- 1978–19853h 30mTV-148.0 (665)TV EpisodeDirectorRodney BennettJohn GorrieStarsDerek JacobiClaire BloomPatrick StewartHamlet 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.
- 1978–19852h 41mTV-147.4 (258)TV EpisodeDirectorHerbert WiseStarsRichard PascoCharles GrayKeith MichellThe assassination of the would be ruler of Rome at the hands of Brutus and company has tragic consequences for Brutus and the republic.
- 1978–19852h 48mTV-146.6 (465)TV EpisodeDirectorAlvin RakoffStarsPatrick RyecartRebecca SaireCelia JohnsonTwo teenagers fall in love, but their feuding families and fate itself cause the relationship to end in tragedy.
- DirectorJack GoldStarsBrenda BruceEileen WayAnne DysonMacbeth 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.
- StarsDavid WarnerPeggy AshcroftDonald BurtonA filmed theatre production of four of Shakespeare's historical plays condensed down into a trilogy.
- DirectorAdam Lee HamiltonJohn MontegrandeStarsJordan DawsPaul SyrstadSaul MatlockWilliam 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 friendships get brutally ripped apart. Caesar leads in the only way he knows how and stands firm in the belief of his leadership. Others have different ideas and that's where this classic tale steps up and attacks. Taking reference to gang culture and questioning the very heart of loyalty and friendship this film is hard hitting. The world is Rome, the story is now, the brutality is soul destroyingly real. In a dark world you find the rawest and darkest souls when people are pushed beyond their limits. The future is not clear and opinions are as divided as the loyalty's.
- DirectorJohn MaddenStarsGwyneth PaltrowJoseph FiennesGeoffrey RushThe 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.
- DirectorPaul IrelandStarsHugo WeavingFayssal BazziHarrison GilbertsonThe lives of inhabitants of a housing commission tower whose paths cross after a shocking event occurs on their front doorstep.
- DirectorPhilip CassonStarsBrian CoburnGriffith JonesRoger ReesThe 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.
- DirectorBlanche McIntyreStarsSimon HarrisonMatthew NeedhamBrodie RossBasing 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.