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379 voters

The Best Modern Versions of Shakespeare Plays

Updated June 14, 2019 2.4k votes 379 voters 10.9k views29 items

List RulesFilm adaptations of Shakespearean plays, set in the modern day.

List of the best modernized versions of Shakespeare plays. There are movies out there based on the plays of William Shakespeare that came out centuries after the plays were first published. After all, they did not exactly have cameras in the days Romeo & Juliet was first performed, let alone the technology that enabled Tromeo & Juliet to be the epic movie it is today.

The most popular example of a Shakespeare modernization is 10 Things I Hate About You. The 1999 teenage rom-com is a retelling of The Taming of the Shrew, starring Heath Ledger. But even widely known, classic movie masterpieces, like West Side Story and The Lion King, are merely modern day renditions of Shakespeare's writing. Ralph Fiennes's Coriolanus and Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho are examples of today's celebrities doing their take on the most classic of classics: the centuries-old theater pieces of William Shakespeare. That is why we see Hamlet set in today's Manhattan, just as we see Macbeth take place in a fast food joint in Scotland, Pennsylvania.

Vote up your favorite modern day version of one of Shakespeare's classics, or vote down the films you thought didn't quite translate to today's world.

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The Lion King
Whoopi Goldberg, Jeremy Irons
Hamlet

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10 Things I Hate About You
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gabrielle Union
The Taming of the Shrew

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West Side Story
Natalie Wood, Rita Moreno
Romeo and Juliet

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She's the Man
Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum
Twelfth Night

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Julia Stiles, Martin Sheen
Othello

O is a 2001 American drama film, and a loose modern adaptation of William Shakespeare's... more
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Tromeo & Juliet
Ian Fraser Kilmister, Debbie Rochon
Romeo and Juliet?

Tromeo and Juliet is a 1996 independent transgressive comedy film adaptation of William... more
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Love's Labour's Lost
Alicia Silverstone, Kenneth Branagh
Love's Labour's Lost

Love's Labour's Lost is a 2000 adaptation of the comic play of the same name by William... more
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45
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Forbidden Planet
Leslie Nielsen, Anne Francis
The Tempest

Forbidden Planet is a 1956 American science fiction film from MGM, produced by Nicholas... more
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46
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Romeo Must Die
Grace Park, Aaliyah
Romeo and Juliet

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Deliver Us from Eva
Gabrielle Union, LL Cool J
The Taming of the Shrew

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Scotland, PA
Christopher Walken, Amy Smart
Macbeth

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The Bad Sleep Well
Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura
Hamlet

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Big Business
Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin
The Comedy of Errors

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Chicken Rice War
Kevin Murphy, Tanya Chua
Romeo and Juliet
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14
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King of Texas
Patrick Stewart, Lauren Holly
King Lear

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Gnomeo & Juliet
Ozzy Osbourne, Emily Blunt
Romeo and Juliet

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The Sea Prince and the Fire Child
Keiko Han, Tōru Furuya
Romeo and Juliet

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12
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Love Is All There Is
Angelina Jolie, Joy Behar
Romeo and Juliet

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16
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Basilisk: The Serpent King
Yancy Butler
Richard III
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Ran
Tatsuya Nakadai, Susumu Terajima
King Lear

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Kiss Me Kate
Ann Miller, Keenan Wynn
The Taming of the Shrew

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Strange Brew
Max von Sydow, Rick Moranis
Hamlet

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Let the Devil Wear Black
Mary-Louise Parker, Jacqueline Bissett
Hamlet

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Coriolanus
Jessica Chastain, Gerard Butler
Coriolanus

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My Own Private Idaho
Keanu Reeves, Jim Caviezel
Henry IV, Part 1

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Basilisk: The Serpent King