William Shakespeare was a late 16th-century English playwright, poet, and actor who is regarded by many as the greatest writer in history. Today, his plays are still performed on stages around the world, and studying his works is a high school right of passage.
It’s not surprising that the Bard would go on to inspire future writers and their stories. Shakespeare’s works have since been used as the basis for a lot of movies – and not just the straight adaptations like Romeo + Juliet or Macbeth. Modern interpretations of his plays exist in every film genre, with numerous movies inspired by Shakespeare. All you have to do is look closely, and you will find that sometimes a zombie movie is a romance, or an animated musical is a Shakespearean tragedy.
Updated on April 14, 2023, by Hannah Saab:
For fans of the Bard, there’s no shortage of fantastic films based on Shakespeare plays that can be streamed right now. It’s as perfect a time as any to delve into these movies you probably already know, but didn’t realize were based on the legendary figure’s work.
10 ‘Men of Respect’ (1990)
Men of Respect is the story of Mike Battaglia (John Turturro), who climbs to the top of his mafia family by killing the boss and anyone else who threatens to get in his way. The film is a ’90s crime drama that mirrors the tragedy of Macbeth, transporting the story into the world of organized crime.
Battaglia’s ambitions and actions during his rise to power will ultimately become his downfall. As in Macbeth, the film has political overtones that allude to the idiom, “be careful what you wish for.”
9 ‘Get Over It’ (2001)
This is a pretty loose adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but an adaptation nonetheless. Get Over It tells the story of a high school senior who tries to win back his ex-girlfriend by joining the cast of the school play she is starring in (which happens to be the play on which the movie is based).
The romantic teen comedy veers far from Shakespeare’s original plot, exchanging mischievous fairies for impish but well-meaning high school boys. The film steers itself back by inserting scenes from the play, performed on stage by the high school students, while its musical performances by Vitamin C and Sisqo root the film firmly in the early 2000s.
Watch on Fubo
8 ‘Deliver Us from Eva’ (2003)
Eva (Gabrielle Union) is a little too involved in her three sisters’ love lives. Their partners decide to take matters into their own hands when the men hire Ray (LL Cool J) to woo her. They hope that Ray can keep Eva away from her sisters and out of their business, but their plan begins to backfire when the two fall in love for real in a wonderful approach to the fake dating trope in film.
Deliver Us from Eva is loosely based on The Taming of the Shrew. This version of the play isn’t as complicated as the original text. What is complicated is the meddling of the three men in the life of the combative “shrew.”
Watch on Tubi
7 ‘O’ (2001)
In O, Odin (Mekhi Phifer), a Black student-athlete, is the MVP of the basketball team in a predominantly white upper-class high school. He has a beautiful girlfriend, Desi (Julia Stiles), and is loved by his coach and all his teammates with one exception: Hugo (Josh Hartnett). Hugo is jealous of the attention and affection Odin receives, especially from their coach (Martin Sheen) who is also Hugo’s father.
Following the plot of Shakespeare’s Othello, Hugo begins manipulating his “friend” and those around him, ultimately resulting in Odin’s undoing. O is a perfectly executed turn-of-the-century take on Othello, which has been frequently readapted over the years. The play’s themes of race, passion, and adversity have made it a favorite amongst filmmakers and audiences alike.
Watch on HBO Max
6 ‘She’s the Man’ (2006)
She’s the Man, in all its early 2000s romantic comedy glory, takes its entire plot from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The only real difference to the play is its modern setting. The play has twins separated in a shipwreck, whereas Viola (Amanda Bynes) and Sebastian (James Kirk) are separated by different schools in the film.
The teen drama is about Viola, who disguises herself as a boy to play on an all-male soccer team. Her plan quickly becomes complicated when she falls for her roommate, Duke (Channing Tatum), who does not know her true identity.
Watch on Paramount+
5 ‘Just One of the Guys’ (1985)
80s teen rom-com Just One of the Guys is an adaptation of Twelfth Night starring Joyce Hyser, Clayton Rohner, and William Zabka, Terri (Hyser) is an aspiring journalist who just wants to be taken seriously in a world dominated by men. She disguises herself as a boy to gain more journalistic credibility, ditching her “good looks” for a short haircut and men’s clothing.
Just like in She’s the Man, in true Shakespearean fashion, Terri falls for a guy while she’s disguised, and things get complicated. The film is a hidden gem from the ’80s that fans of the Bard will likely still enjoy today.
Watch on Crackle
4 ‘Warm Bodies’ (2013)
In one of the best modern movies based on Shakespeare’s work, R (Nicholas Hoult) is not your typical zombie. True, he craves human flesh, and brains are admittedly his favorite. But unlike the rest of his kind, he longs for more. Affection? Perhaps love? He finds what he’s looking for when, one day, he meets Julie (Teresa Palmer). It’s love at first sight for R, as his once dead heart begins beating again.
Warm Bodies, at its core, is an echo of the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet: boy meets and falls in love with a girl from a different household (or species) who is the sworn enemy of his own, and alas, the star-crossed lovers are destined for failure. The film gives the play a 21st-century twist but still throws in plenty of callbacks to the original text. R has a best friend named M (Rob Corddry). In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo’s best friend is Mercutio. Julie is a shortened version of Juliet. Also, Julie’s boyfriend, Perry (Dave Franco), gets his name from Count Paris. What’s more, Warm Bodies, a truly underrated zombie movie, recreates the famous balcony scene.
Watch on Peacock
3 ’10 Things I Hate About You’ (1999)
The 1999 high school comedy, 10 Things I Hate About You, is the story of a love-sick Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his elaborate plan to win the heart of Bianca (Larisa Oleynik). Bianca is not allowed to date until her sister Kat (Julia Stiles) begins to. Cameron convinces the self-absorbed pretty boy, Joey (Andrew Keegan) to pay the mysterious Patrick (Heath Ledger) to “tame” Kat.
The movie is loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew and features tons of references to the play and Shakespeare himself. In the movie, Kat is referred to as “the shrew” in one of the first scenes. Kat’s best friend, Mandella (Susan May Pratt) is Shakespeare-obsessed, with a photo of him in her locker and she can be heard quoting the playwright more than once.
Watch on Disney+
2 ‘West Side Story’ (1961)
West Side Story, the musical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, went from Broadway to film in 1961. Maria (Natalie Wood) and Tony (Richard Beymer) are star-crossed lovers in New York City. The two teens come from rival gangs the Jets and Sharks.
Just as the Montagues and Capulets of Romeo and Juliet, peace cannot be kept as Bernardo (Maria’s brother, played by George Chakiris) kills Tony’s best friend, Riff (Russ Tamblyn), prompting Tony’s immediate retaliation. Tony stabs and kills Bernardo and the deaths seem to mirror that of the play’s characters, Mercutio and Tybalt.
Watch on Hoopla
1 ‘The Lion King’ (1994)
Disney’s The Lion King is a true classic and not the first film fans likely think of when identifying movies based off Shakespeare. With a score composed by Hans Zimmer and A-list actors like Matthew Broderick (Simba) and James Earl Jones (Mufasa) bringing the animation to life, it’s almost hard to believe the story isn’t completely original.
The Lion King is the play Hamlet at its core; it is the story of a king murdered by his brother and a young prince who will someday avenge his father. Luckily, Disney decided to leave out the part where the queen marries the murderous uncle and instead made it so Sarabi (Madge Sinclair) and the other lionesses are servants to Scar (Jeremy Irons).
Watch on Disney+
