Shakespeare in Love
“Love is the only inspiration.”
Young William Shakespeare is forced to stage his latest comedy, 'Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter', before it's even written. When lovely noblewoman Viola de Lesseps auditions for a role, they fall into forbidden love — and Shakespeare's play finds a new life (and title). As their relationship intensifies, the comedy soon transforms into tragedy.
Genres
Romance, History, Comedy, Drama
Studio
Miramax
Language
en
Status
Released
How Shakespeare in Love performed
Budget
$25.0M
Worldwide Gross
$289.3M
Gross Profit
$264.3M
Return
11.6× budget
Opening Wknd (est.)
$44M
Source: TMDB. Domestic/international split (~48/52, genre-typical) and the opening-weekend figure (32% of the domestic run, typical for Romance) are MoviesRankd estimates. Profit is gross revenue minus production budget and excludes marketing — studios typically need ~2–2.5× budget to break even.
Where to Watch
Cast
Will Shakespeare
Joseph Fiennes
Will Shakespeare
Viola De Lesseps
Gwyneth Paltrow
Viola De Lesseps
Philip Henslowe
Geoffrey Rush
Philip Henslowe
Hugh Fennyman
Tom Wilkinson
Hugh Fennyman
Queen Elizabeth
Judi Dench
Queen Elizabeth
Nurse
Imelda Staunton
Nurse
Lord Wessex
Colin Firth
Lord Wessex
Ned Alleyn
Ben Affleck
Ned Alleyn
Tilney
Simon Callow
Tilney
Makepeace
Steven Beard
Makepeace
Ralph Bashford
Jim Carter
Ralph Bashford
Christopher Marlowe
Rupert Everett
Christopher Marlowe
If you liked Shakespeare in Love
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
2007
The Duchess
2008
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
1939
Romeo + Juliet
1996
Anne of the Thousand Days
1969
Victor/Victoria
1982