| 10 Things I Hate About You | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Gil Junger |
| Written by | |
| Based on | The Taming of the Shrew byWilliam Shakespeare |
| Produced by | Andrew Lazar |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Mark Irwin |
| Edited by | O. Nicholas Brown |
| Music by | Richard Gibbs |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution |
Release date |
|
Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $13 million[2] |
| Box office | $53.5 million[3] |
10 Things I Hate About You is a 1999 Americanteenromantic comedy film directed byGil Junger in his film directorial debut and starringJulia Stiles,Heath Ledger,Joseph Gordon-Levitt,Larisa Oleynik,Larry Miller,Andrew Keegan,David Krumholtz,Susan May Pratt, andGabrielle Union. The screenplay byKaren McCullah Lutz andKirsten Smith is a modernization ofWilliam Shakespeare's comedyThe Taming of the Shrew, retold in a late-1990s Americanhigh school setting. The film follows new student Cameron James (Gordon-Levitt) who is smitten with Bianca Stratford (Oleynik) and attempts to getbad boy Patrick Verona (Ledger) to date herasocial sister Kat (Stiles) in order to get around her father's strict rules on dating.
Named after a poem written by Kat about her relationship with Patrick, the film was shot in theSeattle metropolitan area, with many scenes filmed atStadium High School inTacoma, Washington. Released on March 31, 1999,10 Things I Hate About You grossed $53.5 million and received generally positive reviews from critics. It providedbreakthrough roles for Stiles, Ledger, and Gordon-Levitt, all of whom were nominated for various teen-oriented awards. Ten years later, it was adapted into atelevision reboot, which ran for twenty episodes and featuredLarry Miller reprising his role as Walter Stratford. Since its release, the film has gained popularity as acult classic, often being cited as one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time.
Cameron James, a new student at Padua High School in theSeattle area, immediately becomes smitten with beautiful and popular sophomore Bianca Stratford.Geeky Michael Eckman warns him that she is vapid and conceited, and that her overprotective single father Walter, anobstetrician worried aboutteenage pregnancy, won't allow her or her shrewish older sister Kat, a senior, to date until they graduate. Frustrated by Bianca's insistence and Kat's rebelliousness, Walter declares that Bianca may date only when Kat does, knowing that Kat's unsocial attitude will make that difficult.
When Cameron asks Bianca out, she informs him of her father's new rule and suggests he find someone willing to date Kat; unbeknownst to Cameron, Bianca wants to date affluent senior Joey Donner. Cameron selects Australian "bad boy" Patrick Verona. Michael convinces Joey to pay Patrick to ask out Kat. Patrick agrees, but Kat rebuffs his first few advances. After Michael and Cameron probe Bianca for information on Kat's preferences, Patrick begins to win Kat's interest. She goes to a party with him, enabling Bianca (In which the father made her wear a fake pregnancy belly to further swarm off men) and her best friend Chastity Church to tag along.
At the party, Kat becomes upset upon seeing Bianca with Joey, and responds by getting drunk. Patrick attends to her, and she starts to open up to him, expressing her interest in forming a band. When Kat attempts to kiss him, Patrick pulls away, causing her to depart, infuriated and embarrassed. Meanwhile, Bianca upsets Cameron by ignoring him for Joey, but she realizes that Joey is shallow and self-absorbed. When she asks Cameron to drive her home, he calls her selfish for the way she treated him and says his feelings for her are true; she kisses him in response.
Joey pays Patrick more money to take Kat to the prom so he can take Bianca. Although Kat is still angry with Patrick, he wins her over by serenading her with a performance of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" byFrankie Valli, and she returns the favor by helping him sneak out of detention. Their subsequent date turns romantic and they kiss, but Kat becomes suspicious when Patrick insists she accompany him to the prom, which she adamantly opposes.
Irritated that Cameron hasn't asked her to the prom yet, Bianca accepts Joey's invitation, but Walter declines to allow it unless Kat accompanies her. Kat confesses to Bianca that she dated Joey when they were freshmen and, succumbing to peer pressure, had sex with him once and regretted it. After Joey dumped her, she vowed against doing things out of peer pressure, and stays unsocial to protect Bianca. Bianca insists that she should be able to have her own experiences, and Kat decides to go to the prom with Patrick. This lets Bianca go as well, and she attends the prom with Cameron instead of Joey. At the prom, Bianca learns from Chastity that Joey was planning to have sex with Bianca that night. Angry that Bianca spurned him for Cameron, Joey confronts Patrick, revealing that he'd paid Patrick to date Kat and leaving her heartbroken. Joey punches Cameron, but Bianca punches and beats him for hurting her, Kat, and Cameron.
The following day, Bianca reconciles with Kat, and is now officially dating Cameron. For an assignment in which the students were tasked to write their own versions ofWilliam Shakespeare'sSonnet 141, Kat reads aloud her version, entitled "10 Things I Hate About You", revealing that she still cares for Patrick. He surprises her with aFender Stratocaster that he bought with the money Joey paid him, and confesses that he has fallen for her. Kat forgives him, and they reconcile with a kiss.
Writing duoKaren McCullah Lutz andKirsten Smith were inspired to write10 Things I Hate About You after watchingClueless (1995). Being a fan ofteen films, the pair set out to find a classic play or myth to turn it into a contemporary high-school movie, eventually settling onThe Taming of the Shrew, acomedy byWilliam Shakespeare.[4] They wanted to write a strong-willed,feminist character. Patrick Verona was inspired byJudd Nelson's character inThe Breakfast Club (1985). The script was finalized in November 1997.[5] The screenplay was eventually picked up byThe Walt Disney Company, withGil Junger attached to direct.
Junger was keen to find unknown actors for the movie.Josh Hartnett andAshton Kutcher were in the running to play Patrick Verona.Eliza Dushku auditioned for the role of Kat Stratford.Katie Holmes was also considered for the role.Kate Hudson was offered the part but her mother,Goldie Hawn, did not like the script, so she passed on the role.[6] Casting directorMarcia Ross contacted Junger and recommendedJulia Stiles for the role.[4]Junger met her that evening and was "immediately taken"; after the 10 minute meeting, he gave her the role.[4] Joseph Gordon-Levitt auditioned for the roles of Cameron and Michael, despite initial reluctance to act in a "high school film".[7] The role of Michael eventually went to David Krumholtz and Gordon-Levitt was then offered the role of Cameron. Casting for Patrick Verona was a long process, withAndrew Lazar reporting he had seen over 1,000 boys for the role.[4] Three and a half weeks before filming was due to start, Ross broughtHeath Ledger into a casting session, and Junger was immediately inspired by him.[8]
Filming took place in 1998, between June 8 and August 6.[4] Many of the scenes were filmed on location atStadium High School and at a house in theNorth End ofTacoma, Washington. The prom sequence was shot over three days inSeattle.[9] Ledger's singing scene in the high-school bleachers, regarded as one of the most iconic scenes of the movie,[10][11][12] had just threetakes. The song for the scene changed numerous times, almost being "I Touch Myself" by Australian rock bandDivinyls, before "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" byFrankie Valli was settled on.[4]
Costume designer Kimberly Tillman designed original dresses for Larisa Oleynik and Julia Stiles, as well as the period outfits for Susan May Pratt and David Krumholtz. Gabrielle Union's snakeskin prom dress is aBetsey Johnson design. Heath Ledger's and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's vintagetuxedos came from Isadora's in Seattle.[9]
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $8.3 million in 2,271 theaters domestically, finishing second at the box office, behindThe Matrix. It earned $21 million in the first five days of release.[13] The movie grossed a total of $38.2 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $15.3 million in other territories, for $53.7 million worldwide.[3]
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 71% based on 92 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's critics consensus states: "Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger add strong performances to an unexpectedly clever script, elevating10 Things (slightly) above typical teen fare."[14]Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[15] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[16]
Geoff Andrew fromTime Out praised the film's leads, writing, "Stiles grows into her character, and Ledger is effortlessly charming."[17] Brad Laidman ofFilm Threat said the film was "pure of heart and perfectly executed."[18] Ron Wells, also ofFilm Threat, wrote, "Of all the teen films released this year, this one is, by far, the best."[19]Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying that he "liked the movie's spirit, the actors and some of the scenes. The music, much of it by the band Letters to Cleo, is subtle and inventive while still cheerful. The movie almost but not quite achieves liftoff against the gravitational pull of the tired story formula."[20]Entertainment Weekly put the film 49th on its list of Best High School Movies.[21] The costuming was praised byVogue for being stylish and helping illustrate the divide between the Stratford sisters,[22] referring to the movie as a "time capsule" for90s fashion.[23]
10 Things I Hate About You providedbreakthrough roles for Stiles, Ledger, and Gordon-Levitt.[24][25][26] Gordon-Levitt, Stiles, and Oleynik each receivedYoungStar Award nominations for Best Actor/Actress in a Comedy Film. The movie was nominated for sevenTeen Choice Awards: Choice Movie: Breakout Star (Stiles),Choice Movie: Comedy, Choice Movie: Funniest Scene (featuring Krumholtz), Choice Movie: Love Scene (featuring Stiles and Ledger),Choice Movie: Hissy Fit (Gordon-Levitt),Choice Movie: Villain (Andrew Keegan) and Choice Movie: Soundtrack at the1999 Teen Choice Awards. The film's casting directorsMarcia Ross and Donna Morong were nominated forBest Casting for Feature Film, Comedy at theCasting Society of America's Artios Awards in 1999. In 2000, Stiles won theChicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actress (tied withÉmilie Dequenne inRosetta) at the1999 CFCA Awards and anMTV Movie Award forBreakthrough Female Performance at the2000 MTV Movie Awards. Ledger was also nominated for anMTV Movie Award for Best Musical Performance for the song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You".[27]
The film's soundtrack album, featuringLetters to Cleo performing cover versions ofCheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me" andNick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind", stayed on theBillboard 200 chart for seven weeks, peaking at no. 52.[28][29] Reviewer S. Peeples ofAllMusic rated it 3 stars out of 5, calling it "one of the bestmodern rock soundtracks of the spring 1999 season".[30]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Want You to Want Me" (originally performed byCheap Trick) | Rick Nielsen | Letters to Cleo | 3:25 |
| 2. | "F.N.T. (Fascinating New Thing)" (fromGreat Divide, 1996) | Dan Wilson,Jacob Slichter | Semisonic | 3:29 |
| 3. | "I Know" (contains an interpretation of "Shout", written byO'Kelly Isley,Ronald Isley, andRudolph Isley and originally performed byThe Isley Brothers) | Michael Holton, Miré Molner, Brian Mashburn | Save Ferris | 2:52 |
| 4. | "Your Winter" (fromFortress, 2000) | Ken Block, Jett Beres, Andrew Copeland, Ryan Newell, Mark Trojanowski, Bill Smith | Sister Hazel | 4:39 |
| 5. | "Even Angels Fall" (fromKey of a Minor, 2000) | Tom Whitlock,Jessica Riddle,Kim Bullard,Penny Framstad | Jessica Riddle | 3:27 |
| 6. | "New World" (fromLeroy, 2001) | Leroy Miller | Leroy | 3:02 |
| 7. | "Saturday Night" | Rodney Jerkins, Marti Sharron,Dan Sembello | Ta-Gana | 4:26 |
| 8. | "Atomic Dog" (fromComputer Games, 1982) | George Clinton,Garry Shider, David Spradley | George Clinton | 4:44 |
| 9. | "Dazz" (fromGood High, 1976) | Ray Ransom,Edward D. Irons Jr., Reginald Hargis | Brick | 3:24 |
| 10. | "The Weakness in Me" (fromWalk Under Ladders, 1981) | Joan Armatrading | Joan Armatrading | 3:32 |
| 11. | "War" (from "My Favourite Game", 1998) | Peter Svensson,Nina Persson | The Cardigans | 3:57 |
| 12. | "Wings of a Dove" (1983) | Carl Smyth,Graham McPherson | Madness | 3:00 |
| 13. | "Cruel to Be Kind" (originally performed byNick Lowe) | Nick Lowe,Ian Gomm | Letters to Cleo | 3:01 |
| 14. | "One More Thing" | Richard Gibbs | Richard Gibbs | 3:01 |
| Total length: | 49:59 | |||
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[31] | Gold | 35,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[32] | Silver | 60,000* |
| United States (RIAA)[33] | Gold | 500,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
The film is often considered one of the greatest teen and romantic comedies of all time,[34][35][36] receiving praise for subverting expectations and having a feminist lead character.[37] The film has been cited as an influence forNetflix's romcom revival.[38] Kat's defiance for conventional feminine attitudes was seen as an "extreme" brand of feminism at the time; however, the independent female character is now retrospectively regarded as a progressive portrayal that challenged the traditional teen movie archetypes, aligning more closely with modern feminist ideals.[39] The film is often regarded to be acult classic due to the unconventional stereotypes resonating throughout generations and in youth culture years later.[40][41][42]Teen Vogue ranked the movie number one on their list for best teen romance movies.[43]GQ included the film on their list of the best90s movies,[44] andHarper's Bazaar had it on their list of the best movies that defined the 90s.[45]
In 2024, during theDrake–Kendrick Lamar feud, Drake responded to Lamar's diss track "Euphoria" by sharing a clip of the movie on Instagram, showing Stiles reading the titular poem.[46][47]
In June 1999, theScholastic Corporation published anovelization of the story, adapted byDavid Levithan.[48] The story is retold as it is in the film, with each chapter written from the point of view of either Bianca, Cameron, Kat, Patrick, or Michael.
In October 2008,ABC Family ordered apilot episode of10 Things I Hate About You, a half-hour, single-camera comedy series based on the film. Larry Miller is the only actor from the film to reprise his role of Walter Stratford in the TV series. The director of the film,Gil Junger, directed many of the episodes, including the pilot; the film's composer, Richard Gibbs, also returned to do the show's music. The series was adapted and produced byCarter Covington.[49] The show premiered on July 7, 2009,[50] and ended on May 24, 2010, lasting 20 episodes.
In April 2025, it was announced thatLena Dunham andJessica Huang would be writing the book for a musical stage adaptation of10 Things I Hate About You, withCarly Rae Jepsen andEthan Gruska writing the score. The creative team will also includeChristopher Wheeldon as director and choreographer andTom Kitt as music supervisor, arranger, and orchestrator.[51]
In May 2012, a standalone sequel titled10 Things I Hate About Life was announced to be in development with Gil Junger serving as director and screenwriter.[52]Evan Rachel Wood andThomas McDonell were cast in the lead roles, and while production commenced principal photography halted with delays in continuing the production.[53] The movie was ultimately shelved indefinitely, resulting in legal action taken by its producers.[54]
In May 2025, a sequel was in development with the title10 Things I Hate About Dating. Gil Junger will once again serve as director, with the filmmaker co-writing the script with Naya Elle James. Junger stated that similar to the previous movie being a William Shakespeare contemporary retelling, the new project will be based onJean-Baptiste "Molière" Poquelin'sThe Misanthrope, or the Cantankerous Lover. The director expressed hopes that cast from the original movie would reprise the roles, in a variety of cameos or as a featured supporting cast alongside the new characters. The movie is intended to be the first in a trilogy of sequels, with the additional projects tentatively titled:10 Things I Hate About Marriage, and10 Things I Hate About Kids. Junger acknowledged that while Ledger cannot appear in the new installment, there will be reference and tribute made to the deceased actor.[55]
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