The title of To Be Or Not To Be comes of course from a famous speech by the title character in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, but it is only one of many. From Hamlet alone have come, sometimes indirectly, movie titles including North By Northwest, Murder Most Foul and Leave Her To Heaven.

Shakespeare also originated dozens of phrases as common as "Salad Days" and "Full Circle" and "In Cold Blood," which feature frequently in works of fiction.

Other specific Shakespeare derivations include Band Of Brothers, from Henry V, and The Fault In Our Stars, from Julius Caesar.