Letters from Iwo Jima

Letters from Iwo Jima
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Clint Eastwood
Screenplay by	Iris Yamashita
Story by	Iris Yamashita Paul Haggis
Based on	Picture Letters from Commander in Chief by Tadamichi Kuribayashi (author) Tsuyuko Yoshida (editor)
Produced by	Clint Eastwood Robert Lorenz Steven Spielberg
Starring	Ken Watanabe Kazunari Ninomiya Tsuyoshi Ihara Ryō Kase Shidō Nakamura
Cinematography	Tom Stern
Edited by	Joel Cox Gary D. Roach
Music by	Kyle Eastwood Michael Stevens
Production companies	DreamWorks Pictures Malpaso Productions Amblin Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	December 9, 2006 (2006-12-09) (Japan) December 20, 2006 (2006-12-20) (United States)
Running time	140 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Languages	Japanese English
Budget	$19 million[2]
Box office	$68.7 million[2]

Letters from Iwo Jima (硫黄島からの手紙, Iōjima Kara no Tegami) is a 2006 Japanese-language American war film directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood, starring Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya. The film portrays the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers and is a companion piece to Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, which depicts the same battle from the American viewpoint; the two films were shot back to back. Letters from Iwo Jima is almost entirely in Japanese with a few English sequences, despite being co-produced by American companies DreamWorks Pictures, Malpaso Productions and Amblin Entertainment.

The film was released in Japan on December 9, 2006 and received a limited release in the United States on December 20, 2006 in order to be eligible for consideration for the 79th Academy Awards, for which it received four nominations, including Best Picture and winning Best Sound Editing. It was subsequently released in more areas of the U.S. on January 12, 2007, and was released in most states on January 19. An English-dubbed version of the film premiered on April 7, 2008. Upon release, the film received critical acclaim and although it only grossed slightly better at the box office than its companion, it was much more successful compared to its budget.