A bullet-riddled Shakespeare adaptation dismantled by critics finds something rotten in the state of streaming

Hundreds of years on from his death, and William Shakespeare remains one of film and television’s premiere sources of inspiration, whether we’re talking faithful adaptations or modern-day reinventions. Based on the title alone, there are no prizes being handed out for guessing where Die in a Gunfight falls on the spectrum.

While the Bard’s work being updated and interpreted as a bullet-riddled slab of action-orientated insanity is hardly the newest trick in the book – as proven by Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet and Gerard Butler’s gun-toting turn in Coriolanus – those two were vastly superior movies to Collin Schiffli unanimously-panned misfire.

On Rotten Tomatoes, Die in a Gunfight could only muster a 17 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, with the explosive retelling of Romeo and Juliet failing to match its ambition when it came to the execution. Being stuck in development hell for a decade may not have helped its case, either, with a revolving door of cast and crew members constantly in flux before cameras started rolling.

However, as a high concept shoot ’em up, there was always the chance the overlooked and deservedly trashed tale would end up circling back around to find fresh eyes on streaming. Whether they know it’s a Shakespeare film or not, Die in a Gunfight has ended up as one of the most-watched features on Paramount Plus anyway, per FlixPatrol.

It’s definitely not the most conventional spin on the iconic love story you’re ever going to see, but nor is it anywhere near being placed among even the middle tier.