Big Fish

This article is about the 2003 film. For other uses, see Big Fish (disambiguation).

Big Fish
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTim Burton
Screenplay byJohn August
Based onBig Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions
by Daniel Wallace
Produced byRichard D. Zanuck
Bruce Cohen
Dan Jinks
Starring
CinematographyPhilippe Rousselot
Edited byChris Lebenzon
Music byDanny Elfman
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release dates
  • December 4, 2003 (2003-12-04) (Hammerstein Ballroom)
  • December 10, 2003 (2003-12-10) (United States)
Running time
125 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$70 million[1]
Box office$123.2 million[1]

Big Fish is a 2003 American fantasy drama film directed by Tim Burton.[a] It is based on the 1998 novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace.[6] The film stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Alison Lohman, Robert Guillaume, Marion Cotillard, Steve Buscemi, and Danny DeVito. It tells the story of a frustrated son who tries to distinguish fact from fiction in the life of his father, a teller of tall tales.

The screenwriter John August read a manuscript of the novel six months before it was published and convinced Columbia Pictures to acquire the rights. He began adapting the novel as a screenplay while producers negotiated with Steven Spielberg about directing the film. Spielberg eventually left the project to focus on Catch Me If You Can (2002). Tim Burton and Richard D. Zanuck took over after completing Planet of the Apes (2001), and brought McGregor and Finney on board.

The film's theme of reconciliation between a dying father and his son had special significance for Burton, whose father had died in 2000. Big Fish was shot on location in Alabama in a series of fairy tale vignettes with a Southern Gothic aesthetic. The film premiered on December 4, 2003, at the Hammerstein Ballroom and was released in limited capacity on December 10, followed by a wide release on January 9, 2004. It received various award nominations, including seven BAFTA nominations, four Golden Globe nominations and two Saturn Award nominations. It also received an Academy Award nomination and a Grammy Award nomination for Danny Elfman's original score. A musical adaptation of Big Fish premiered in Chicago in April 2013.[7]

  1. ^ a b "Big Fish (2003) > Production Budget > Domestic Total Gross + Foreign". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
  2. ^ "Big Fish". AFI Catalog. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  3. ^ "Big Fish". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  4. ^ "Big Fish". AllMovie. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  5. ^ "Big Fish". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  6. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (December 4, 2003). "Big Fish". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 5, 2009. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  7. ^ Heller, Scott (September 6, 2012). "'Big Fish' Musical to Open in Chicago". The New York Times. Retrieved July 23, 2024.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).