The Manchurian Candidate (2004 film)

The Manchurian Candidate
International theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jonathan Demme
Screenplay by	Daniel Pyne Dean Georgaris
Based on	The Manchurian Candidate 1959 novel by Richard Condon 1962 film screenplay by George Axelrod
Produced by	Jonathan Demme Ilona Herzberg Scott Rudin Tina Sinatra
Starring	Denzel Washington Meryl Streep Liev Schreiber Jon Voight Kimberly Elise Jeffrey Wright Ted Levine
Cinematography	Tak Fujimoto
Edited by	Carol Littleton Craig McKay
Music by	Rachel Portman
Production company	Scott Rudin Productions
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	July 30, 2004 (2004-07-30)
Running time	130 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$80 million
Box office	$96.1 million[2]

The Manchurian Candidate is a 2004 American neo-noir^[3] psychological political thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme.^[4] The film, based on Richard Condon's 1959 novel of the same name and a reworking of the previous 1962 film, stars Denzel Washington as Bennett Marco, a tenacious, virtuous soldier; Liev Schreiber as Raymond Shaw, a U.S. Representative from New York, manipulated into becoming a vice-presidential candidate; Jon Voight as U.S. Senator Tom Jordan, a challenger for vice president; and Meryl Streep as Eleanor Prentiss Shaw, also a U.S. Senator and Raymond's manipulative ruthless mother.

While the name of the novel and the earlier film was retained, the significance of "Manchurian" was changed. In the original, the protagonist was captured in the Korean War and brainwashed by the Chinese army in Manchuria. In the 2004 film, with the Korean War replaced by the Gulf War, Manchurian is instead used as the name of a sinister multinational company.