Sorcerer (film)

This article is about the 1977 U.S. film. For other films with similar name, see Sorcerer.

Sorcerer
Theatrical release poster by Richard L. Albert
Directed byWilliam Friedkin
Screenplay byWalon Green
Based onLe Salaire de la peur
by Georges Arnaud
Produced byWilliam Friedkin
Starring
Cinematography
Edited by
  • Bud Smith
  • Robert K. Lambert
Music byTangerine Dream
Production
company
Film Properties International N.V.
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • June 24, 1977 (1977-06-24)
Running time
121 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
French
Spanish
German
Budget$21–22 million[1][2][3]
Box office$5.9 million (theatrical and rentals)[4]
$9 million (worldwide)[5]

Sorcerer is a 1977 American action-thriller film produced and directed by William Friedkin and starring Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, and Amidou. The second adaptation of Georges Arnaud's 1950 French novel Le Salaire de la peur, it has been widely considered a remake of the 1953 film The Wages of Fear,[12] although Friedkin disagreed with this assessment.[13] The plot depicts four outcasts from varied backgrounds meeting in a South American village, where they are assigned to transport cargoes of aged, poorly kept dynamite that is so unstable that it is 'sweating' its dangerous basic ingredient, nitroglycerin.[9]

Sorcerer was originally conceived as a side-project to Friedkin's next major film, The Devil's Triangle, with a modest US$2.5 million budget.[14] The director later opted for a bigger production, which he thought would become his legacy.[13] The cost of Sorcerer was earmarked at $15 million, escalating to $22 million following a troubled production with various filming locations—primarily in the Dominican Republic—and conflicts between Friedkin and his crew.[15] The mounting expenses required the involvement of two major film studios, Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures,[15] with both studios sharing the U.S. distribution and Cinema International Corporation being responsible for the international release.[16]

The film received generally negative reviews upon its release. Its domestic (including rentals) and worldwide gross of $5.9 million[4] and $9 million respectively[17] did not recoup its costs. A considerable number of critics, as well as Friedkin himself, attributed the film's commercial failure to its release at roughly the same time as Star Wars, which instantly became a pop-culture phenomenon.[3][13][18][19]

The film has enjoyed a critical re-evaluation and some critics have lauded it as an overlooked masterpiece,[2][3][15][20] perhaps "the last undeclared [one] of the American '70s".[21] Friedkin considered Sorcerer among his favorite works,[22][23] and the most personal and difficult film he ever made.[24] Tangerine Dream's electronic music score was also acclaimed, leading the band to become popular soundtrack composers in the 1980s.[25] After a lengthy lawsuit filed against Universal Studios and Paramount, Friedkin supervised a digital restoration of Sorcerer, with the new print premiering at the 70th Venice International Film Festival on August 29, 2013.[26] Warner Home Video released the film remastered on Blu-ray on April 22, 2014.[27]

  1. ^ Lindsey, Robert (August 7, 1977). "The New Tycoons of Hollywood". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 6, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Sobczynski, Peter (April 10, 2013). "The Wages Of Sorcerer". eFilmCritic.Com. Archived from the original on June 2, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference The Wrap was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b "Big Buck Pix vs. Rentals". Variety. January 13, 1982.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Biskind was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference maltin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Turan, Kenneth (August 1997). "Remakes". Progressive. p. 39.
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference halliwellguide was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference framework was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Kendrick, James (2009). Hollywood Bloodshed: Violence in 1980s American Cinema. SIU Press. p. 58. ISBN 9780809328888.
  12. ^ [6][7][8][9][10][11]
  13. ^ a b c Friedkin, William (2013). The Friedkin Connection: A Memoir. HarperCollins Publishers. pp. 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 326, 328, 329, 336, 340, 341, 345, 346, 348.
  14. ^ Biskind 1998, p. 309
  15. ^ a b c Crawford, Shaun (June 26, 2012). "(some of) The Best Films You've (probably) Never Seen, Part 3: Sorcerer". T-SQUAT.COM. Archived from the original on June 26, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  16. ^ "SORCERER". AFI.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
  17. ^ Biskind 1998, p. 337.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference olson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Knight, Rich (February 13, 2013). "25 Movies That Bombed in Theaters But Are Actually Great". Complex Magazine. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
  20. ^ Segaloff, Nat (2009). "The Uncanny Cinema of William Friedkin". Harvard Film Archive. Archived from the original on June 4, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  21. ^ Atkinson, Michael (December 8, 2011). ""The Wages of Fear" at MoMA and Film Forum (Dec 08-22)". altscreen. Archived from the original on March 17, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  22. ^ Clagett 1990, p. 154
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference indiewire-2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Ebiri, Bilge (January 13, 2013). "Director William Friedkin on Rising and Falling and Rising in the Film Industry". Vulture. Archived from the original on May 5, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  25. ^ "Biography". Tangerine Dream official website. Archived from the original on September 26, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  26. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (May 2, 2013). "Venice Fest to Lionize William Friedkin". Variety. Archived from the original on November 21, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  27. ^ "William Friedkin's SORCERER Goes Blu-ray In April". January 6, 2014. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2014.