Anyone But You Is the Second Highest Grossing Live-Action Shakespeare Adaptation Ever
The adaptation of Shakespeare’s lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers story Much Ado About Nothing, titled Anyone But You, has grossed $189 million globally, making it the second highest-grossing live-action Shakespeare adaptation ever.
The only other live-action adaptation of the Bard’s to beat it — if we aren’t counting 2019’s Lion King, since it is CGI — is Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, which grossed $300 million when accounting for inflation.
Anyone But You, starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, is a little different from some other adaptations, though. Instead of focusing on the main characters of Much Ado About Nothing — Claudio and Hero — it centers secondary characters Beatrice and Benedict. In it, Bea and Ben have a great first date, but things soon turn sour. After they realize they’re going to the same destination wedding, they decide to pretend to be a couple for different reasons. Romantic comedy and spiciness ensue.