Empire of the Sun (film)
1987 film by Steven Spielberg / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Empire of the Sun is a 1987 American epic coming-of-age war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Tom Stoppard, based on J. G. Ballard's semi-autobiographical 1984 novel of the same name. The film tells the story of Jamie "Jim" Graham (Christian Bale), a young boy who goes from living with his wealthy British family in Shanghai to becoming a prisoner of war in an internment camp operated by the Japanese during World War II.
Empire of the Sun | |
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Directed by | Steven Spielberg |
Screenplay by | Tom Stoppard |
Based on | Empire of the Sun by J. G. Ballard |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Allen Daviau |
Edited by | Michael Kahn |
Music by | John Williams |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
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Running time | 154 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages |
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Budget | $25 million[1] |
Box office | $66.7 million[2] |
Harold Becker and David Lean were originally to direct before Spielberg came on board, initially as a producer for Lean.[3] Spielberg was attracted to directing the film because of a personal connection to Lean's films and World War II topics. He considers it to be his most profound work on "the loss of innocence".[1] The film received positive reviews, with praise towards Bale's performance, the cinematography, the visuals, Williams's score and Spielberg's direction. However, the film was not initially a commercial success, earning only $22 million at the US box office, although it eventually more than recouped its budget through revenues in foreign markets, home video, and television.[4]