Hamlet

Released in 2000, Hamlet is a contemporary retelling of Shakespeare's play set in New York City. The head of the Denmark Corporation has died, and his brother Claudius becomes the new president of the company while also marrying Gertrude, the widow. Her son Hamlet, a young filmmaker, is deeply disturbed by how quickly the marriage follows his father's death. His suspicions about Claudius darken as he searches for the truth, and his desire for revenge grows harder to bear. A forbidden romance with Ophelia complicates matters, and Hamlet eventually pours his family's betrayal into a film of his own, screening it for the people it depicts. Michael Almereyda wrote and directed the film, which was produced by Andrew Fierberg and Amy Hobby for Miramax and double A Films. It was Almereyda's first feature, followed later by Cymbeline, Experimenter, Marjorie Prime and Tesla. Ethan Hawke plays Hamlet, with Kyle MacLachlan as Claudius, Diane Venora as Gertrude, Liev Schreiber as Laertes, Julia Stiles as Ophelia and Bill Murray as Polonius. The production was modest, made for about 2 million dollars, and it took in roughly the same amount worldwide. On IMDb it holds a 5.9 rating from around 10,000 votes, and on TMDB a 5.8 from a much smaller number of votes, while critics rated it 6.3 from 95 reviews.