25 movies you didn't know were inspired by Shakespearean plays

Vishal Bhardwaj has earned significant and deserved praise for his skill in bringing the work of Shakespeare into Hindi cinema. In this case, he takes the action of Macbeth into the sinister world of the Mumbai underworld, with the film focusing on the title character, whose mistress, Nimmi, helps lead him down the road to perdition, in which he murders his boss (and another of Nimmi’s lovers), with tragic consequences for all involved. A skillful blend of tragedy and biting satire, it demonstrates how relevant and flexible the work of Shakespeare remains. 

Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew has proven remarkably popular when it comes to adaptations, and one of the most enjoyable of them all is Kiss Me Kate. Starring Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel, who appear as a married couple who, obviously, are cast in the roles of Kate and Petruchio. It is based on the play of the same name, but there’s no question that it makes a very satisfactory transition to the stage. It successfully uses the work of Shakespeare to comment on gender relations in the 1950s while providing all of the beautiful spectacle of a Hollywood musical. 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of the most famous Shakespeare comedies, and in Were the World Mine, it gets the musical treatment. The film focuses on a young gay man, Timothy, who yearns for true love and, after mysteriously concocting the magical flower love-in-idleness, he manages to turn the whole town gay. It’s a lovely and fun musical, and it demonstrates the latent queer energy so often evident in Shakespeare’s works. What’s more, unlike so many other movies focused on the LGBTQ+ community, it ends up with a happy ending, with a romantic coupling it's impossible not to like.

King Lear is another play that has inspired many different iterations and retellings. It’s easy to see why, as its story about a king who has to decide who will inherit his throne easily translates into other family psychodramas. In A Thousand Acres, a richly-told melodrama focuses on a father deciding which of his daughters will inherit his estate. Though there are some notable plot contrivances, it still makes ample use of its source material and its emphasis on dark family tragedy, and it’s anchored by the performances of its cast, particularly  Michelle Pfeiffer, Jessica Lange, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

One of Shakespeare’s most notable cycles of plays deals with the rise of Henry V, one of the most martial and militarily successful of England’s many monarchs. Netflix’s The King follows the general thrust of the plays, and it stars Timothée Chalamet as Prince Hal. Though he begins as a disaffected youth utterly uninterested in ruling, soon enough, he ascends to the throne and begins to change. Chalamet is perfectly cast as the young hero, and while The King takes some notable liberties with established history and the events of Shakesepeare’s plays, the gritty realism and Chalamet’s performance make it very worth watching.

With its sinister title, A Double Life immediately alerts the viewer that they are about to watch a film about dark and sinister doings. This is exactly what happens, as Ronald Colman’s character, Tony John, takes on the part of Othello in an adaptation of the play, only to find his own psyche beginning to take the shape of his character. In director George Cukor’s capable hands, this film is a haunting testament to the power of acting and how the most indelible roles can start taking over the lives of those who decide to don another persona in pursuing their craft.

Even though Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar focuses on the assassination of one of the most important men of the ancient world, it’s not a play that has inspired many loose adaptations (though there are notable examples of straightforward film adaptations). One exception to this is The Karaoke King, which focuses on a karaoke bar champion and his efforts to maintain his place atop the karaoke bar’s hierarchy. It’s more than a bit farcical, and its connection to Julius Caesar is admittedly quite thin at times, but this is precisely what makes it so much fun.

Given the extent to which Shakespeare’s plays often deal with weighty issues regarding emotions and family trauma, it makes sense that they would have found a welcome home in the Western genre. It joins the ranks of the many adaptations of The Tempest, in this case focusing on a group of outlaws who meet a woman and her grandfather in a ghost town. However, what sets it apart from other Shakespeare adaptations is its sparse dialogue; it is the type of film that makes a great deal out of natural sound. This grants it an atmospheric feel perfectly in tune with its Western setting. 

The thought-provoking science fiction film Ex Machina draws on a number of sources for its story about a scientist who finds himself falling in love with an android who has, in her turn, started to develop consciousness. Among other things, it draws from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, particularly its interest in nonhuman creatures, such as Ariel and Caliban, and the extent to which such beings have their own hearts, minds, and souls. This being science fiction, it expands the frame provided by Shakespeare, forcing the viewer to contend with the thorny ethical issues raised by transhumanism and the specter of artificial intelligence. 

Akira Kurosawa is one of the most significant figures in Japanese cinema, and his influence continues to be felt today. One of the most notable of his works is Throne of Blood, which takes the action of Macbeth and moves it into the violent world of feudal Japan. Like many adaptations, it takes quite a few liberties with the play, but with its arresting visuals and its keen understanding of the darkness of human nature, there are good reasons why it is often regarded as one of the best translations of the works of Shakespeare to the modern medium of film. 

Robert Eggers’ third film, The Northman, focuses on the tragic story of Amleth, a young prince whose father is slain by his uncle and who returns, after a period of exile, to exact bloody revenge. It is obliquely related to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, though it draws more from the Bard’s inspiration for his tragic play. However, The Northman is as bloody, grim, and soberly introspective as Shakespeare’s play. While it does have its moments of excess, it also does a good job of capturing the bloody nature of life in the early medieval world and the blood feuds such a world produced.  

Shakespeare’s influence hasn’t just been felt in American and British cinema; it also has quite an international following. Based on Hamlet, it follows Haider, who returns to Kashmir to look into his father's death. As he does so, he quickly finds himself sucked into the violent politics of the region, with tragic consequences for everyone involved. It’s a tightly woven and superbly acted combination of political thriller and Shakespeare adaptation, and it demonstrates the extent to which the playwright’s works can be used to entertain and interrogate the challenging ethical and political questions of the present. 

The Lion King II is a rare example of a Disney sequel that, while not improving on the first film, holds up surprisingly well. Focusing on Simba’s daughter, Kiara, as she falls in love with Kovu, the scion of a rival clan of lions, it is evocative of the plot of Romeo and Juliet. Part of what makes it a great Disney sequel is that it managed to get most of the voice talent from the original, and the songs, while not reaching the heights achieved by Elton John and Tim Rice, are still catchy and fun. Also, like its predecessor, it manages to end on a far happier note than its literary antecedent. 

Few musicals remain as beloved as the original version of West Side Story, which starred Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as Maria and Tony. Its plot is essentially that of Romeo and Juliet transposed onto New York City and the conflict between the street gangs known as the Jets and the Sharks. As the film progresses, the two young lovers find their romance drawn into the doomed cycle of violence that erupts around them. Aside from the wrenching pathos of the fatal love at its center, it is also a masterpiece of filmmaking, with fantastic direction and moving lyrics from the late, great Stephen Sondheim. 

Shakespeare’s plays have endured for many reasons, but surely one of the most prominent is that they delight in play, including the notion of gender. It thus makes sense that Twelfth Night, which relentlessly points out the constructed nature of gender, should be so ripe for adaptation in the modern world. In 1985, this inspired Just One of the Guys, which focuses on a young journalist, Terri, who masquerades as a man to be taken more seriously, only to find herself falling in love with handsome Rick Morehouse. Beneath its 1980s teen comedy trappings, there is a surprisingly sophisticated look at the performance of gender and sexuality in Reagan’s America. 

In some ways, O is an unusual film because it transplants the actions of Shakespeare’s fraught tragedy Othello  into an American high school. The film focuses on star basketball player Odin James, who finds his life, including his relationship with Desi, and his life in general, brought to ruin thanks to the machinations of the nefarious Hugo. It features a superb cast, including Mekhi Phifer, Josh Hartnett, and Julia Stiles. Despite its modern setting, the film still manages to tap into the raw emotional territory that was such a key part of the original play, with an ending just as devastating as its stage-bound predecessor.

With its central narrative about the battle of the sexes, it’s easy to see why The Taming of the Shrew has inspired so many modern remakes. In 2003, this led to the release of Deliver Us from Eva,  which, as its title suggests, focuses on a troublesome woman named Eva and the man, Ray, who tries to tame her rebellious spirit. The film hits all of the narrative notes one would expect of this story — some of which, it must be said, are a bit contrived — but the film is well worth a watch if only to see LL Cool J and Gabrielle Union lock horns. 

The late 1990s and early 2000s were a particularly prosperous time for loose adaptations of Shakespeare’s works, particularly in the genre of teen comedy. It draws on the premise of A Midsummer Night’s Dream,  though in this case, it focuses primarily on a teen who wants to get back with his girlfriend and so joins the high school production of said play. It might be a bit predictable, as expected of a teen comedy, but there’s more than enough charm from the cast, particularly Kirsten Dunst, to make it worth a watch.

Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the story of a Scottish nobleman who, at the instigation of his wife, murders his king and usurps his throne, is one of the Bard’s finest works. It has also found new life in various forms, including in Men of Respect. The film takes the action of the play and translates it into the story of a crime boss who ascends the rung of organized crime by murdering his boss. The play’s main character, Mike Battaglia, is played by John Turturro, while his real-life wife Katherine Borowitz plays Ruthie, the Lady Macbeth figure. It’s a fascinating film that shows just how flexible and adaptable Shakespeare’s works can be.

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet might be heartbreaking, but this hasn’t kept it from serving as the inspiration for numerous movies. In Warm Bodies,  the tale of two star-crossed lovers is transposed to a zombie and the human woman with whom he falls in love. Like many other interpretations of the story, this one ends more happily for the two young people, particularly since the zombie gradually returns to his human form. Both Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer are well-cast as the romantic leads, and the film is a fun reinterpretation of one of Western literature’s most well-known pieces of dramatic art. 

Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho  is one of the most noteworthy of the films released as part of the movement commonly known as New Queer Cinema. Starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves as a pair of hustlers, it is a surreal and beautifully told adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henriad, the series of plays dealing with the rise of King Henry V. Both Reeves and Phoenix demonstrate extraordinary skill and chemistry as the leads. The film’s road movie narrative is one of the longing and displacement that is so often at the heart of the American dream. 

One of the most remarkable aspects of the Shakespeare adaptation phenomenon is how generically diverse it is. One of the most remarkable science fiction films of the 1950s, Forbidden Planet, is very much inspired by The Tempest. The two works have some notable plot similarities, focusing on a group of explorers who land on a planet inhabited by a mysterious man and his daughter. It’s one of the best science fiction films to have emerged from that decade, and it uses the play to interrogate such important issues as space travel and the nature of the human psyche.  

The Lion King looms large in the popular imagination. This is no surprise, given that it was the height of the Disney Renaissance, solidifying the studio’s reputation as the leader in feature animation. With its story about a young lion cub who returns from exile to overthrow his tyrannical uncle Scar, it has deep roots in the work of Shakespeare, particularly Hamlet. Fortunately for viewers, The Lion King doesn’t end nearly as tragically as the Bard’s play, with Simba emerging from the battle alive and ready to take his rightful place as the king of the Pride Lands, restoring it to its natural bounty.

10 Things I Hate About You is not just one of the best teen comedies of the late 1990s; it’s also one of the best Shakespeare adaptations. Its plot is loosely based on the playwright’s The Taming of the Shrew, focusing on Julia Stiles’ Kat Stratford, an intelligent and rebellious young woman who slowly falls in love with Heath Ledger’s Patrick Verona, the man who sets out to pierce her brittle exterior, first as part of a bet and then later in earnest. In addition to the superb performances and chemistry between Stiles and Ledger, the film also features a strong and clever script. 

Amanda Bynes is undeniably charismatic in She’s The Man, a fun romp of a film that is a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.  In this case, Bynes plays Viola Hastings, who disguises herself as her twin brother so she can play soccer, only to find herself falling in love with the handsome Duke Orsino (portrayed by the suitably hunky Channing Tatum). As with Shakespeare’s original play, beneath the comedy and the romance, there is a surprisingly sophisticated examination of the nature of gender performance and how so much of what culture perceives as natural is instead nothing more than a construct.