It’s a fun challenge to think about what movies might still be around in 500 years. It would have to be one that could connect to audiences in not just a random future century, but in every intermediate century, or else it’ll get forgotten and might not recover. It would have to be a movie that was already popular when it was made, so people in the next century remember it, one that has themes that are broad enough that they can cross cultures (because the future is another country), without any pop culture references, not a comedy, and probably a bit on the simple end script-wise because no one who watches it after a certain point is even going to speak that language. How about Titanic?
Was Romeo and Juliet really the best play written in the 16th century? I have no idea. It definitely wasn’t a bad play. It had sword-fights, doomed romance, and absolutely made a connection to audiences when it was first performed, and has continued to for every century since then. Being a really well done version of an already well known story set at some distance (Italy in the past) from the audience probably helped its longevity.
