<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> US $30 million </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $53.5 million </Td> </Tr> <P> 10 Things I Hate About You is a 1999 American romantic comedy - drama film directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon - Levitt, and Larisa Oleynik . The screenplay, written by Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith, is a modernization of William Shakespeare's late - 16th century comedy The Taming of the Shrew, retold in a late - 1990s American high school setting . In the story, new student Cameron (Gordon - Levitt) is smitten with Bianca (Oleynik) and, in order to get around her father's strict rules on dating, attempts to get bad boy Patrick (Ledger) to date Bianca's ill - tempered sister, Kat (Stiles). The film is titled after a poem written by Kat about her bittersweet romance with Patrick . Much of the filming took place in the Seattle metropolitan area, with many scenes shot at Stadium High School in Tacoma . </P> <P> Released March 31, 1999, 10 Things I Hate About You was number two at the domestic box office during its opening weekend, behind only The Matrix, and was a moderate financial and critical success . It was a breakthrough role for Stiles, Ledger, and Gordon - Levitt, all of whom were nominated for various teen - oriented awards . Ten years later, the film was adapted into a television series of the same title, which ran for twenty episodes and featured Larry Miller reprising his role as Walter Stratford from the film . </P>

Who plays the principal in 10 things i hate about you