Breaking from traditional critiques of Shakespeare films based on either the aesthetics of the films or on a comparison between the film and source text, this new analysis of recent Shakespeare movies seeks to explain what makes such films commercial successes. Focusing particularly on three sub-genres--the teen Shakespeare film, the hybrid Shakespeare film, and the "faithful" adaptation--the author argues that the commercial success of the most popular films stems from blurring the line between the "traditional Shakespeare" and a more modern interpretation of the texts.