The Driver

The Driver
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWalter Hill
Written byWalter Hill
Produced byLawrence Gordon
Starring
CinematographyPhilip H. Lathrop
Edited by
Music byMichael Small
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • July 28, 1978 (1978-07-28)
Running time
91 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States[2][3]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4 million[4]
Box office$4.9 million[5]
1,102,183 admissions (France)[6]
£802,952 (UK)

The Driver is a 1978 American crime thriller film written and directed by Walter Hill, and starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern and Isabelle Adjani. The film featured only unnamed characters, and follows a getaway driver for robberies whose exceptional talent has prevented him being caught. A detective promises pardons to a gang if they help catch him in a set-up robbery.

20th Century Fox released The Driver on July 28, 1978. The film was a box office disappointment in the United States but performed better overseas. Despite initial negative reviews it has become one of Hill's most popular films, and received more positive critical reception in later years. Directors Quentin Tarantino, Nicolas Winding Refn and Edgar Wright have cited The Driver as a major influence.

  1. ^ "The Driver (1978)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  2. ^ "The Driver (1978)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  3. ^ "The Driver (1978)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on May 7, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  4. ^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p258
  5. ^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p234
  6. ^ Box office figures for Walter Hill films in France at Box Office Story