Romancing the Stone

For the song by Eddy Grant of the same name, see Romancing the Stone (song).
Romancing the Stone
Theatrical release poster by John Solie
Directed byRobert Zemeckis
Written byDiane Thomas
Produced byMichael Douglas
Starring
CinematographyDean Cundey
Edited byDonn Cambern
Frank Morriss
Music byAlan Silvestri
Production
company
El Corazon Producciones S.A.[1]
Distributed by20th Century Fox[1]
Release dates
  • March 30, 1984 (1984-03-30) (United States)
  • September 14, 1984 (1984-09-14) (Mexico)
Running time
106 minutes
Countries
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million[2][3]
Box office$115.1 million[4]

Romancing the Stone is a 1984 romantic comedy-adventure film directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Diane Thomas and produced by Michael Douglas, who also stars in the film alongside Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. The film follows a romance novelist who must venture beyond her New York City comfort zone to Colombia in order to save her sister from criminals who are holding her for ransom.

Thomas wrote the screenplay in 1979. Zemeckis, who at the time was developing Cocoon, liked Thomas's screenplay and offered to direct but 20th Century Fox initially declined, citing the commercial failure of his first two films I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Used Cars. Zemeckis was eventually dismissed from Cocoon after an early screening of Romancing the Stone failed to further impress studio executives. Alan Silvestri, who would collaborate with Zemeckis on his later films, composed the score.[5]

Romancing the Stone was released on March 30, 1984, to positive reviews from critics and earned over $115 million worldwide at the box office. A sequel, The Jewel of the Nile, was released in December 1985.

  1. ^ a b c d "Romancing the Stone (1984)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  2. ^ Solomon 1989, p. 260.
  3. ^ Pollock, Dale. "Zemeckis puts his heart and soul in 'Romancing The Stone'". Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles), March 29, 1984. p. m1.
  4. ^ "Receipts: 'Romancing the Stone'." Box Office Mojo. Retrieved: March 28, 2016.
  5. ^ Landekic, Lola. "Romancing the Stone". www.artofthetitle.com. Retrieved 2022-07-20.