question: Christian Bale starred in a film based on a play by what playwright? 
answer: William Shakespeare
context: Title: Empire of the Sun (film)
  Passage: Empire of the Sun is a 1987 American epic coming-of-age war film based on J. G. Ballard's semi-autobiographical novel of the same name.  It was directed by Steven Spielberg and stars John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers, and Christian Bale.  The film tells the story of Jamie "Jim" Graham, a young boy who goes from living in a wealthy British family in Shanghai, to becoming a prisoner of war in a Japanese internment camp, during World War II.
  Title: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999 film)
  Passage: A Midsummer Night's Dream is a 1999 romantic comedy fantasy film based on the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare.  It was directed by Michael Hoffman.  The ensemble cast features Kevin Kline as Bottom, Michelle Pfeiffer and Rupert Everett as Titania and Oberon, Stanley Tucci as Puck, and Calista Flockhart, Anna Friel, Christian Bale, and Dominic West as the four lovers.
  Title: The Machinist
  Passage: The Machinist is a 2004 psychological thriller film directed by Brad Anderson and written by Scott Kosar.  The film stars Christian Bale and features Jennifer Jason Leigh, John Sharian, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, and Michael Ironside in supporting roles.  The film is about Trevor Reznik (Bale), a machinist whose insomnia and psychological problems lead to a serious workplace accident involving a co-worker (Ironside).  After Reznik is fired, he goes into a downward spiral of paranoia and delusion.  The film was well-received by critics, particularly for Bale's performance.  It is an international co-production of the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and the United States.
  Title: Terminator Salvation
  Passage: Terminator Salvation is a 2009 American post-apocalyptic science fiction war film directed by McG, starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington.  It is the fourth installment of the "Terminator" film series.  In a departure from the previous installments, which were set between 1984 and 2004 and used time travel as a key plot element, "Salvation" is a post-apocalyptic film set in the year 2018, fourteen years after the events of "".  It focuses on the war between Skynet's machine network and humanity; the remnants of the world's military have organized as the Resistance, fighting against Skynet's killing machines.  Bale portrays John Connor, Resistance fighter and central character to the franchise, while Worthington portrays cyborg Marcus Wright.  Anton Yelchin plays as a young Kyle Reese, a character first introduced in "The Terminator", and the film depicts the origin of the T-800 (Model 101) Terminator, played by Roland Kickinger, who replaces Arnold Schwarzenegger as the title character, though CGI was used to recreate Schwarzenegger's facial likeness from the original film, with his consent.
  Title: R U Professional
  Passage: "R U Professional" is a 2009 satirical song by the American indie rock band The Mae Shi, inspired by a July 2008 outburst by actor Christian Bale on the set of "Terminator Salvation".  Bale was filming with actress Bryce Dallas Howard when he berated director of photography, Shane Hurlbut, for walking into his line of sight.  An audio recording of the incident appeared on website TMZ on February 2, 2009.  The Mae Shi composed and recorded the song later in the same day, and released it the next day.  The group stated that the piece was created to honor Bale.  The song parodies Bale by sampling his voice from the 2008 diatribe.  The chorus incorporates Bale's use of the word "professional" from his flare-up.  The lyrics reference several films the actor starred in, including "Newsies", "Swing Kids", "American Psycho", and "The Dark Knight".
  Title: The Dark Knight (film)
  Passage: The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Christopher Nolan.  Featuring the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the second part of Nolan's "The Dark Knight Trilogy" and a sequel to 2005's "Batman Begins", starring an ensemble cast including Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Morgan Freeman.  In the film, Bruce Wayne/Batman (Bale), Police Lieutenant James Gordon (Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart) form an alliance to dismantle organized crime in Gotham City, but are menaced by a criminal mastermind known as the Joker (Ledger) who seeks to undermine Batman's influence and create chaos.
  Title: The Fighter
  Passage: The Fighter is a 2010 American biographical sports drama film directed by David O. Russell, and starring Mark Wahlberg (who also co-produced), Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo.  The film centers on the lives of professional boxer Micky Ward (Wahlberg) and his older half-brother Dicky Eklund (Bale).  Adams plays as Micky's girlfriend Charlene Fleming and Leo portrays Micky and Dicky's mother, Alice Eklund-Ward.  The film was inspired by the 1995 documentary that features the Eklund-Ward family, titled "".
  Title: The Prestige (film)
  Passage: The Prestige is a 2006 British-American mystery thriller film directed by Christopher Nolan, from a screenplay adapted by Nolan and his brother Jonathan from Christopher Priest's 1995 novel of the same name.  Its story follows Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, rival stage magicians in London at the end of the 19th century.  Obsessed with creating the best stage illusion, they engage in competitive one-upmanship with tragic results.  The film stars Hugh Jackman as Robert Angier, Christian Bale as Alfred Borden, and David Bowie as Nikola Tesla.  It also stars Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine, Piper Perabo, Andy Serkis, and Rebecca Hall.  The film reunites Nolan with actors Bale and Caine from "Batman Begins" and returning cinematographer Wally Pfister, production designer Nathan Crowley, film score composer David Julyan, and editor Lee Smith.
  Title: Christian Bale filmography
  Passage: British actor Christian Bale has starred in various films, as well as advertisements and a video game.  He made his acting debut in 1986, on the television film "".  The following year, he made his film debut starring alongside John Malkovich and Miranda Richardson in the war film "Empire of the Sun".  Bale's role of a young boy, interned in China by the Japanese, received praise from most film critics.  Two years later, Bale had a minor role in "Henry V", a drama film based on William Shakespeare's play "The Life of Henry the Fifth".  It has been considered one of the best Shakespeare film adaptations ever made.  In 1992, Bale starred as Jack Kelly in the Walt Disney musical drama "Newsies", which was a critical and commercial failure; however, it gained a cult following.  He received a role in the 1994 drama "Little Women", which garnered positive reviews.  Bale lent his voice for the Disney animated film "Pocahontas" in 1995, although it received a mixed reception and attained box office success.  He starred as British journalist Arthur Stuart in the Todd Haynes-directed drama "Velvet Goldmine" (1998).  Although critics were divided on the film, Bale's role was "eagerly anticipated".  Bale portrayed Demetrius in the critically praised 1999 film "A Midsummer Night's Dream", an adaptation of Shakespeare's play of the same name, directed by Michael Hoffman.  The same year, he portrayed Jesus of Nazareth in the television movie "Mary, Mother of Jesus".
  Title: Batman Begins
  Passage: Batman Begins is a 2005 superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman, co-written and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe and Morgan Freeman.  The film reboots the "Batman" film series, telling the origin story of Bruce Wayne from his initial fear of bats and the death of his parents to his journey to become Batman and his fight to stop Ra's al Ghul and the Scarecrow from plunging Gotham City into chaos.  Comic book storylines such as "The Man Who Falls", "" and "" served as inspiration.
citations: Christian Bale filmography A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999 film)