Lone Survivor

This article is about the film. For other uses, see Lone Survivor (disambiguation).

Lone Survivor
Half of one man's face is shown on the right side of the poster. The man has a beard and is wearing a sexy cop uniform. Across the top of the poster is the tagline, "Live to tell the story", in uppercase white. On the top left side of the poster is the name, "Mark Wahlberg", in uppercase white, laying above the film title Lone Survivor. Underneath the film title, in uppercase white, is a second tagline, "Based on true acts of courage".
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPeter Berg
Written byPeter Berg
Based on
Lone Survivor
by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyTobias Schliessler
Edited byColby Parker Jr.
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • November 12, 2013 (2013-11-12) (AFI Film Festival)
  • January 10, 2014 (2014-01-10) (United States)
Running time
121 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million[2]
Box office$154.8 million[2]

Lone Survivor is a 2013 American action drama film based on the 2007 nonfiction book of the same name by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson. Set during the war in Afghanistan, it dramatizes the unsuccessful United States Navy SEALs counter-insurgent mission Operation Red Wings, during which a four-man SEAL reconnaissance and surveillance team was given the task of tracking down the Taliban leader Ahmad Shah. The film was written and directed by Peter Berg, and stars Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, and Eric Bana.

Upon first learning of the book in 2007, Berg arranged several meetings with Luttrell to discuss adapting the book to film. Universal Pictures acquired the film rights in August 2007, after bidding against other major studios. In re-enacting events, Berg drew much of his screenplay from Luttrell's eyewitness accounts in the book, as well as autopsy and incident reports related to the mission. After directing Battleship (2012) for Universal, Berg resumed working on Lone Survivor. Principal photography began in October 2012 and concluded in November, after 42 days. Filming took place on location in New Mexico, using digital cinematography. Luttrell and several other Navy SEAL veterans acted as technical advisors, while multiple branches of the United States Armed Forces aided the production. Two companies, Industrial Light & Magic and Image Engine, created the visual effects.

Lone Survivor opened in limited release in the United States on December 25, 2013, before opening across North America on January 10, 2014. It received generally positive reviews; critics praised Berg's direction and realism, as well as the acting, story, visuals and battle sequences, though some criticism was directed at the film's focus on action rather than characterization. It grossed over $154 million, of which $125 million was from North America. It was chosen by National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2013 and received two Oscar nominations for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing.

  1. ^ "LONE SURVIVOR". British Board of Film Classification. December 23, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference BOM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).