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Meanwhile, glitzing up the Bard hath taken its toll. Producer Matt Salinger says some potential financiers backed off from Devil because of its depressing Hamlet-esque finish. "They were like, 'Change the ending and we're there with the money.'" And Disney, perhaps worried about the high school education of its cast, handed out Taming of the Shrew Cliffs Notes to its 10 Things stars. "It was like, 'Thank you, but I read the play,'" scoffs Stiles.

A few naysayers aside, the general belief is this Will guy's got the goods. "You want to be careful about putting a client in a fad," says one agent. "But when you're doing Shakespeare, at least you know it's intelligent." Adds 10 Things director Gil Junger: "The reality is there are not a lot of great stories out there, so the good ones get recycled. I mean, how many times have we seen Romeo and Juliet? I believe one of them happened to be on a big old ship that sunk."


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Posted Feb 12, 1999 | Published in issue #471 Feb 12, 1999 | Order Article Reprints
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