William Shakespeare's influence on performing arts has spread well beyond his era, and even into the realm of modern film.
Some 'modern day classics' are direct film adaptations of the playwrights work, but others are sneakier than that.
Here are three examples of where Shakespeare's work has transcended onto the silver screen.
It's the adaptation of Romeo and Juliet which has become a classic in its own right. West Side Story was released in theatres in 1961 and takes place on the streets of New York City.
The two protagonists, Tony and Maria, fall in love -- but there's a catch -- they're in rival gangs. Tony is a member of an American gang and Maria is the sister of a Puerto Rican gang leader.
Much like the source material, the film concludes with death. But instead of both protagonists this time, it's just Tony who dies in Maria's arms.
This adaptation takes Shakespeare back to high school -- using the plot of The Taming of the Shrew and giving it a modern twist.
The 1999 film which boasts the all-star cast of Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger is about a smart, beautiful and abrasive girl called Kat Stratford who becomes the love interest of an effortlessly charming new kid at school -- Patrick Verona.
Given that the film made a cool US$53.5 million (NZ$ 77.2 million), it's a great showcase of Shakespeare being brought forward into the modern era -- and not just in media studies class.
It's probably the most famous adaptation of Shakespeare's work in the modern era.
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, the 1996 film takes the exact storyline of the original play and transposes it in the middle of a place referred to as Verona Beach.
While the film retains the Shakespearean language element and the two key families, the Montagues and the Capulets, it does away with swords and horses and livens it up with muscle cars and guns.
A few plot details are altered here and there to fit the new setting, but in essence, the film shaves very closely to the original.
At the worldwide box office, the film raked in US$147 million (NZ$ 212 million.)
Newshub.
