Cinema-goers on both sides of the Atlantic flock to see costume comedy about the Bard, breaking British box office records.

Is there no stopping the bard? William Shakespeare's year got off to a formidable start when he beat off the likes of Churchill, Caxton and Darwin to be voted British Personality of the Millennium in a poll for Radio 4's Today programme. Last week the film Shakespeare in Love won Golden Globe awards for best musical or comedy, best script and best actress. And this weekend it broke box office records in Britain to take £1.8 million on the first three days of its release.

Already a hit in the United States, Shakespeare in Love is set to be the big British film of the year. Its opening weekend box office receipts put it ahead of recent British blockbusters such as The Full Monty, Four Weddings and a Funeral and last year's success, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

But what is the appeal? Why should yet another romantic comedy in period costume reach out to such a wide audience, from the suburban multiplexes to the American Academy of Motion Pictures members who will vote on next week's Oscar nominations?

The film stars Joseph Fiennes as Will Shakespeare, a struggling playwright suffering from writer's block. His problems are eased when he meets Viola, played by American actress Gwyneth Paltrow. The result is the play Romeo and Juliet.

Written by Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman, and directed by Mrs Brown director John Madden, the film features a host of top British actors, including Simon Callow, Imelda Staunton, Tom Wilkinson, Antony Sher and Dame Judi Dench.

Stanley Wells, chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, was impressed with the film when he saw it, despite doubts about its historical accuracy.

"It isn't an intellectually or emotionally challenging film but it's sexy and it has a witty script," Professor Wells said. "It's not got a lot of stars but it does have actors who can command a following. It has a sort of cult cachet. The love element is as important as the Shakespeare. It's easy history. Some people will think they're getting history but there are some purely fictional characters in the film. Perhaps there should be a warning before the film."

One of the keys to the film's success is that it appeals to several different audiences. In-jokes about Shakespeare's contemporary, John Webster, satisfy the literary crowd, while the presence of Martin Clunes will draw in television audiences. But it is the combination of romance, costume, period charm, and a story worked around a historical figure whose personal history is shrouded in mystery that guarantees audiences.

"We're all fascinated by William Shakespeare," said Ian Rowley of the Royal Shakespeare Company. "Who was he? Was he a woman? Did he write the plays? Are there five more hidden away in an attic somewhere?"

The success of Shakespeare in Love should produce benefits for companies such as the RSC as cinema audiences decide to try out the live version of Shakespeare. "It's very good news for us, it creates a fertile environment for audience development. If we were trying to think of something to stimulate an interest in Shakespeare we couldn't have thought of anything better. The impact of Baz Luhrmann's film of Romeo and Juliet was quite extraordinary. We followed that with our own production and we found that there were definitely people trying it because they had seen the film."

The film is number five in the US box office charts, eight weeks after its release, with total box office takings of $31.4 million (£20 million), up 11 per cent since its Golden Globes victory.

David Parfitt, the film's producer, argues that the success is down to the script and the source material.

"It's ve