The Express: The Ernie Davis Story

The Express:
The Ernie Davis Story
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGary Fleder
Written byCharles Leavitt
Based onErnie Davis: The Elmira Express by Robert C. Gallagher
Produced byJohn Davis
StarringDennis Quaid
Rob Brown
Omar Benson Miller
Clancy Brown
Charles S. Dutton
CinematographyKramer Morgenthau
Edited byPadraic McKinley
William Steinkamp
Music byMark Isham
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • October 10, 2008 (2008-10-10)
Running time
130 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million[1]
Box office$9.8 million[1]

The Express: The Ernie Davis Story is a 2008 American sports drama film produced by John Davis and directed by Gary Fleder. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Charles Leavitt from a 1983 book Ernie Davis: The Elmira Express, authored by Robert C. Gallagher. The film is based on the life of Syracuse University football player Ernie Davis, the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy, portrayed by actor Rob Brown. The Express explores civil rights topics, such as racism, discrimination and athletics. It was the film debut of Chadwick Boseman as Floyd Little.[2]

The film was a co-production between the film studios of Relativity Media and Davis Entertainment. It was commercially distributed by Universal Pictures theatrically, and by Universal Studios Home Entertainment for home media. Dennis Quaid and Charles S. Dutton star in principal supporting roles. The original motion picture soundtrack with a musical score composed by Mark Isham, was released by the Lakeshore Records label on October 28, 2008.

The Express premiered in theaters nationwide in the United States on October 10, 2008. Despite receiving generally positive reviews from critics, the film was a box office bomb, grossing just $9.8 million against its $40 million budget. The Blu-ray version of the film, featuring deleted scenes and the director's commentary was released on January 20, 2009.

  1. ^ a b "The Express". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on June 30, 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  2. ^ Gary Fleder. (2008). The Express [Motion picture]. United States: Universal Pictures.