Claim: Leonardo DiCaprio is an actor.

William Shakespeare 's Romeo + Juliet -LRB- shortened to Romeo + Juliet -RRB- is a 1996 American romantic drama film directed , co-produced and co-written by Baz Luhrmann , co-produced by Gabriella Martinelli and co-written by Craig Pearce , being an adaption and modernization of William Shakespeare 's tragedy Romeo and Juliet . The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the leading roles of Romeo and Juliet , who instantly fall in love when Romeo crashes a party and meets her despite them being members of the Montague and Capulet family ; Brian Dennehy , John Leguizamo , Pete Postlethwaite , Paul Sorvino and Diane Venora star in supporting roles .   While it retains the original Shakespearean dialogue , the Montagues and the Capulets are represented as warring mafia empires -LRB- with legitimate business fronts -RRB- and swords are replaced with guns -LRB- with brand names such as `` Dagger '' and `` Sword '' -RRB- . Some of the characters ' names are also changed . Lord and Lady Montague and Lord and Lady Capulet are given first names -LRB- as opposed to the Shakespeare original where their first names are never mentioned -RRB- , Friar Lawrence becomes Father Lawrence , and Prince Escalus is renamed Captain Prince . There is also no Friar John , who was in the original play . Also , some characters were switched from one family to the other -- in the original , Gregory and Sampson are Capulets , but in the film , they are Montagues . -LRB- Abram , as Abra , and Petruchio , conversely , are shifted from the Montague to the Capulet family . -RRB- In addition , a few plot details are shifted , most notably near the ending .   The film was released on November 1 , 1996 by 20th Century Fox to commercial and generally critical success , grossing over $ 147.5 million over a $ 14.5 million budget and receiving generally positive reviews . At the 47th Berlin International Film Festival in 1997 , DiCaprio won the Silver Bear for Best Actor and Luhrmann won the Alfred Bauer Prize . Luhrmann was also nominated for the Golden Bear Award for Best Picture . At the 69th Academy Awards , Catherine Martin and Brigitte Broch were nominated for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration .