Romeo and Juliet on screen the story have also been filmed, most notably "West Side Story", Prokofiev's ballet "Romeo and Juliet" and "Romanoff and Juliet". Several theatrical films, such as "Shakespeare in Love" and "Romeo Must Die", consciously use elements of Shakespeare's plot. Producer Irving Thalberg pushed MGM for five years to make a "Romeo and Juliet", in the face of the studio's opposition: which stemmed from Louis B. Mayer's belief that the masses considered the Bard over their heads, and from the austerity forced on the studios by the depression. It was only when Jack L. Warner announced his intention to film Max Reinhardt's
Romeo + Juliet Story” and “China Girl”), but I have never seen anything remotely approaching the mess that the new punk version of “Romeo & Juliet” makes of Shakespeare's tragedy." The film was nominated to appear on the American Film Institute's "100 Years...100 Passions" list in 2002. The film was originally released on VHS and DVD in 1997. A 10th anniversary special edition DVD containing extra features and commentary was released on February 6, 2007, while a Blu-ray edition was released on October 19, 2010. Romeo + Juliet William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (often shortened to Romeo + Juliet) is a 1996 American