Whether you’re trying to forget about single life, celebrating a happy marriage, or just finding something fun for a girls’ night in, nothing beats a good rom-com. The genre may go back over decades, but every single time we rewatch these classics, it brings back those exact familiar feelings.
But some of your favorite rom-coms were actually inspired by other classic rom-com movies as well as classic novels. Here are the eight rom-coms that you probably didn’t know were remakes.
7. The Holiday (2006)
This 2006 Nancy Meyers classic, starring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet, follows two lovelorn women who arrange a home exchange to beat the heartbreak of the holiday season. The movie stars Jude Law and Jack Black as male leads. ‘The Holiday’ was actually inspired by the 1960 film ‘The Apartment,’ which starred Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray.
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6. Anyone But You (2023)
Starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell in the lead roles, ‘Anyone But You’ follows their chance encounter and turns into an enemies-to-lovers story. After an amazing first date, Bea and Ben find their fiery attraction turning ice-cold until they find themselves reuniting and pretending to be a couple. The movie was inspired by the 1993 film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’.
5. Clueless (1995)
Celebrated as one of the wittiest satires of the 90s, ‘Clueless’ features Alicia Silverstone’s iconic performance as Cher Horowitz, a beautiful, popular, and wealthy high school student who just wants to do “good deeds.” The movie is a clever adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel ‘Emma,’ set in a modern context.
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4. 10 Things I Hate About You
Known as a rom-com cult classic, ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ follows the preppy and popular Bianca and her anti-social older sister, Kat Stratford. When a guy falls for Bianca, he pays the school’s bad boy to take out Kat. The movie was actually a modern retelling of William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Taming of the Shrew,‘ which many might remember from its 1967 adaptation starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
3. You’ve Got Mail
Starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in the lead roles, ‘You’ve Got Mail’ is about two business rivals who haven’t realized that they are each other’s online romance. The movie was inspired by the 1940 film ‘The Shop Around the Corner,‘ an adaptation of the Hungarian play ‘Parfumerie.‘ In the film starring Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart, we see the love story unfold through letters instead of emails.
2. Notting Hill
This rom-com classic starring Julia Robert and Hugh Grant tells the love story of a British bookshop keeper and a famous American actress who happens to walk into his shop in Notting Hill. This premise, which might sound familiar to many, was actually inspired by another classic rom-com, ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s.’ Starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard, here we see a naïve, eccentric socialite meeting a struggling writer.
1. Bridget Jones’s Diary
This one stars Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant and follows a single British woman in her 30s who keeps a diary, focusing on the things she wishes would happen in her life. The movie was a modern retelling of the classic Jane Austen novel ‘Pride and Prejudice,‘ in which we also see Colin Firth as Darcy. The film also included several Easter eggs referencing the novel, such as Colin Firth’s character’s name being Mark Darcy and Bridget working at Pemberley Press.
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