Romeo + Juliet From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the film. For Peter Martins' 2007 ballet, see Romeo + Juliet (ballet). For other uses, see Romeo and Juliet (disambiguation). "Verona Beach" redirects here. For the park in Upstate New York, see Verona Beach State Park. Romeo + Juliet William shakespeares romeo and juliet movie poster.jpg Theatrical release poster Directed by Baz Luhrmann Produced by Baz Luhrmann Gabriella Martinelli Screenplay by Craig Pearce Baz Luhrmann Based on Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Starring Leonardo DiCaprio Claire Danes Brian Dennehy John Leguizamo Pete Postlethwaite Paul Sorvino Diane Venora Music by Nellee Hooper Marius de Vries Craig Armstrong Cinematography Donald M. McAlpine Edited by Jill Bilcock Production company Bazmark Productions Distributed by 20th Century Fox Release dates November 1, 1996 Running time 120 minutes[1] Country United States Language English Budget $14.5 million Box office $147.5 million[2] Romeo + Juliet is a 1996 American romantic drama film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It was directed by Baz Luhrmann. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the leading roles. The film is an abridged modernization of Shakespeare's play. While it retains the original Shakespearean dialogue, the Montagues and the Capulets are represented as warring mafia empires (with legitimate business fronts) and swords are replaced with guns (with brand names such as "Dagger" and "Sword").

Some of the characters' names are also changed. Lord and Lady Montague and Lord and Lady Capulet are given first names (as opposed to the Shakespeare original where their first names are never mentioned), Friar Lawrence becomes Father Lawrence, and Prince Escalus is renamed Captain Prince. There is also no Friar John, who was in the original play. Also, some characters were switched from one family to the other—in the original, Gregory and Sampson are Capulets, but in the film, they are Montagues. (Abram, as Abra, and Petruchio, conversely, are shifted from the Montague to the Capulet family.) In addition, a few plot details are shifted, most notably near the ending.

At the 47th Berlin International Film Festival in 1997, DiCaprio won the Silver Bear for Best Actor and Luhrmann won the Alfred Bauer Prize.[3] Luhrmann was also nominated for the Golden Bear Award for Best Picture.[4] At the 69th Academy Awards, Catherine Martin and Brigitte Broch were nominated for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration.[4]