But when screenwriters Karen McCullah and Kirsten Kiwi Smith first conceived of10 Things,it was hardlyde rigeur.
We lovedClueless, says McCullah, speaking of the 1995 twist on Austen’sEmma.
ButShrewended up having everything they were looking for.
Heath Ledger in ‘10 Things I Hate About You’; Kirsten Dunst in ‘Get Over It’; Sydney Sweeney in ‘Anyone But You’.Buena Vista Pictures/Everett; Dimension Films/ Everett; Brook Rushton/Sony
It seemed like this could take place at any time."
I was like, It should be reversed and the guy is the shrew,'" remembers Smith.
The original really works because there’s always going to be boys who think that girls are shrews.
Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles in ‘10 Things I Hate About You’.Everett Collection
From there, they wrote a version that was essentially a beat-for-beat reimagining of the play.
And then we realized, Oh, we’re going to have to cut some things here.
This is a 200-page script.
Heath Ledger in ‘10 Things I Hate About You’.Richard Cartwright
But there’s a lot of Shakespeare in that script for sure.
I had a big book of Shakespearean sonnets that I went through with a highlighter, details McCullah.
I would just take certain turns of phrase that he used and add those to dialogue.
Kirsten Dunst and Mila Kunis in ‘Get Over It’.Dimension Films/ Everett
We enjoyed having all that detail and texture to play with, adds Smith.
We were bedazzling with Shakespeare.
But when McCullah and Smith were writing, studio executives weren’t as concerned with that.
Robert Hoffman and Amanda Bynes in ‘She’s the Man’.DreamWorks/courtesy Everett Collection
We were lucky to be in the early days of that, says Smith.
Dare I say, trailblazers?
When10 Things I Hate About Youopened on March 31, 1999, it debuted at No.
Amanda Bynes in ‘She’s the Man’.Dreamworks Skg/Kobal/Shutterstock
2 behindThe Matrixand earned mostly positive reviews.
I started writingGet Over Itin college, as it was originally calledGetting Over Allison, he explains.
There was no Shakespeare, there was no musical element, no one was putting on a show.
Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney in ‘Anyone But You’.Brook Rushton/Sony
It was just a straightforward teen comedy.
One of the changes was they wanted for them to be putting on a Shakespeare production."
“The shape stayed basically the same, but it had this whole other idea superimposed over it.
Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney in ‘Anyone But You’.Sony Pictures Entertainment/YouTube
I’m glad that we wound up taking that path.
That made it different from some of the other adaptations.
However, it does bring Shakespeares sonnets into the mix, particularly in Kats climatic titular monologue.
I was familiar withA Midsummer Nights Dreamfrom high school, he says.
But I definitely went to the store and consulted a lot ofShakespeare for Dummiestype books.
I dont know how helpful that was, he quips.
But I got to see a free show and we had very good seats.
For Flemings part, hes not surprised Shakespeare plays remain such a popular source material.
The relationships are timeless and relatable, he muses.
That’s where everything started.
Plus, it’s free.
Its in the public domain, so they don’t have to pay anybody.
Yet, returning to the Bard was the last thing they expected.
“We were just two girls trying to kick the doors in and write a great teen comedy.
Adds McCullah: I don’t think either of us were necessarily hardcore Shakespeare scholars.
It’s really cool that our legacy somehow makes it seem like we were.
We were even interviewed by the BBC as if we were.
There was a Shakespeare special that they did about adaptations.
Similar to Smith and McCullah, Wolpert says her early drafts hewed much more closely to the source material.
“Modern-day characters are going to be smarter, Wolpert says.
It’s a little bit easier to figure these things out.
Wolpert herself has a theory as to why the Bard is such ideal source material for contemporary rom-coms.
He’s so dramatic, she says.
They’re classic stories, they’re original plots.
They are very, very simple and they work.
Wolpert sure hopes so.
“I’m definitely not done, she says.
“I want to make my way through the whole canon.
I’m like, Let’s doMacbethas a rom-com.
I’ll try it.
Its so trans-coded and it’s so queer, she explains.
Its not just Wolpert who’s eager for more.
There are some big plot issues.
[This story has been updated to correct the name ofAnyone But Youscreenwriter Ilana Wolpert.]
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