Romeo and Juliet: A Timeless Tragedy William Shakespeare wrote his ever famous play, Romeo and Juliet, in 1595. Like many of Shakespeare’s plays, the story of Romeo and Juliet is timeless and has proven to remain perhaps the most popular story of tragic love. In 1968, 373 years after the play was originally written, a new movie was released and hailed as a new and futuristic Romeo and Juliet. This film is directed by Franco Zeffirelli and stars Leonard Whiting as Romeo and Olivia Hussey as Juliet. Then, in 1996, a mere 401 years after Shakespeare’s original production, Baz Luhrmann directed a new Romeo and Juliet