`HAMLET' GAME BRINGS A SMILE.

Byline: The Hollywood Reporter

Finally, there is hope for all the frustrated poets out there who always wanted to rewrite Shakespeare and for parents who want to introduce their kids to the world's greatest tragedy - but with an upbeat ending.

Parallel to the current film directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, Castle Rock has come up with a CD-ROM game version of ``Hamlet,'' in which the players have to give the famous play a happy ending.

``Unlike the film, we tried to make it a positive game, not a tragedy. You have to try to kill Claudius, but avoid the deaths of Polonius and Ophelia ... And if you do something wrong, the army of Fortinbras descends on you - game over,'' said Jean-Pierre Isbouts, the producer of the CD-ROM game.

The CD-ROM is based on and uses footage from Branagh's four-hour film adaptation of the play. It was presented Sunday at the Milia multimedia market in Cannes by the French CD-ROM distributor EMME. Isbouts' Santa Monica-based production company Pantheon designed it.

``Castle Rock was very forthcoming with material,'' said Isbouts, who said the CD-ROM production had access to all dailies. Producer Castle Rock also insisted that the film clips be shown on CD-ROM in wide-screen format.

Hamlet: The Game cost ``over $400,000'' to make and includes 30 minutes of original footage from the movie, 20 minutes of animated video and 25 different games and puzzles.