Man on Wire

This article is about the film. For the album by PNC, see Man on Wire (album). For the song by The Script, see Man on a Wire (The Script song).

Man on Wire
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJames Marsh
Produced bySimon Chinn
StarringPhilippe Petit (as himself)
CinematographyIgor Martinovic
Edited byJinx Godfrey
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 22 January 2008 (2008-01-22) (Sundance)
  • 25 July 2008 (2008-07-25) (US)
  • 1 August 2008 (2008-08-01) (UK)
Running time
94 minutes[1]
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
Languages
  • English
  • French
Budget£1.1 million (approx. $1.9 million)[2]
Box office$5.3 million[3]

Man on Wire is a 2008 documentary film directed by James Marsh. The film chronicles Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center. It is based on Petit's 2002 book, To Reach the Clouds, released in paperback with the title Man on Wire. The title of the film is taken from the police report that led to the arrest (and later release) of Petit, whose performance lasted for almost an hour. The film is crafted like a heist film, presenting rare footage of the preparations for the event and still photographs of the walk, alongside re-enactments (with Paul McGill as the young Petit) and present-day interviews with the participants, including Barry Greenhouse, an insurance executive who served as the inside man.[4]

Man on Wire competed in the World Cinema Documentary Competition[5] at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema Documentary and the World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary.[6] In February 2009, the film won the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary. As of 2022, it is one of only six documentary films to ever sweep "The Big Four" critics awards (LA, NBR, NY, NSFC) and the only one of those to also win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

  1. ^ "MAN ON WIRE (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. 17 June 2008. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  2. ^ "Case study – Man on Wire's soaring success | News | Screen". screendaily.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference mojo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ A.O. Scott (25 July 2008). "Walking on Air Between the Towers". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 31 May 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  5. ^ "2008 Sundance Film Festival Announces Films in Competition" (PDF). 28 November 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 June 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2008.
  6. ^ "2008 Sundance Film Festival Announces Awards" (PDF). 26 January 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 June 2008.