Hamlet (1996 film)

Hamlet
Hamlet
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kenneth Branagh
Screenplay by	Kenneth Branagh
Based on	Hamlet; by William Shakespeare
Produced by	David Barron
Starring	Kenneth Branagh; Julie Christie; Billy Crystal; Gérard Depardieu; Charlton Heston; Derek Jacobi; Jack Lemmon; Rufus Sewell; Robin Williams; Kate Winslet;
Cinematography	Alex Thomson
Edited by	Neil Farrell
Music by	Patrick Doyle
Production; companies	Columbia Pictures; Castle Rock Entertainment;
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing (Select territories); Rank-Castle Rock/Turner (United Kingdom);
Release date	25 December 1996;
Running time	242 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom; United States;
Language	Early Modern English
Budget	$18 million
Box office	$4.7 million

Hamlet is a 1996 British epic historical drama film and an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars as Prince Hamlet. The film also features Derek Jacobi as King Claudius, Julie Christie as Queen Gertrude, Kate Winslet as Ophelia, Michael Maloney as Laertes, Richard Briers as Polonius, and Nicholas Farrell as Horatio. Other cast members include Robin Williams, Gérard Depardieu, Jack Lemmon, Billy Crystal, Rufus Sewell, Charlton Heston, Richard Attenborough, Judi Dench, John Gielgud and Ken Dodd.

The film is the first unabridged theatrical film version of Hamlet, running more than four hours. The setting is updated to the 19th century, but its Elizabethan English text remains the same. Blenheim Palace is the setting used for the exterior grounds of Elsinore Castle, and interiors were photographed at Shepperton Studios. Hamlet was the last major dramatic motion picture to be filmed entirely on 70 mm film until 2011, with the release of the documentary Samsara.

Branagh's Hamlet has been regarded as one of the best Shakespeare film adaptations ever made.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] However, it was a box-office bomb, mostly due to its limited release, grossing just under US$5 million on a budget of $18 million.^[2] The film received four Oscar nominations for the 69th Academy Awards for Best Art Direction (Tim Harvey), Best Costume Design (Alexandra Byrne), Best Original Score (Patrick Doyle) and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Kenneth Branagh).

^ "Hamlet (1996)". BBFC. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hamlet (1996) Archived 13 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
^ Cite error: The named reference Rotten Tomatoes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Roger Ebert was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference ReelViews was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Greatest Shakespeare was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1] "Hamlet (1996)". BBFC. Retrieved 31 March 2021.

[Box_Office_Mojo-2] Hamlet (1996) Archived 13 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 26 January 2012.

[Rotten_Tomatoes-3] Cite error: The named reference Rotten Tomatoes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Roger_Ebert-4] Cite error: The named reference Roger Ebert was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[ReelViews-5] Cite error: The named reference ReelViews was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Greatest_Shakespeare-6] Cite error: The named reference Greatest Shakespeare was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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