The Pelican Brief backdrop
The Pelican Brief movie poster

The Pelican BriefFollow

1993 • PG-13 • 2h 21m • Crime, Drama, Thriller • Warner Bros.

Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. One lone law student has stumbled upon the truth. An investigative journalist wants her story. Everybody else wants her dead.

🍅 56% 61% MC 51 LB 3.33 IMDb 6.7

Box office summary

Opening weekend
$16.90M
3-day opening
Domestic total
$100.80M
Final
Worldwide total
$188.00M
$87.20M international
Domestic legs6.0x
Budget$45M
1993 rank#8
Compare with other movies

Cast & crew

Full Pakula filmography
Alan J. Pakula Alan J. Pakula Director Julia Roberts Julia Roberts Starring Denzel Washington Denzel Washington Starring Sam Shepard Sam Shepard Starring John Heard John Heard Starring Tony Goldwyn Tony Goldwyn Starring
ScreenplayAlan J. Pakula Produced byAlan J. Pakula, Pieter Jan Brugge CinematographyStephen Goldblatt Music byJames Horner StudioWarner Bros.

The run

WkWeekendRankGrossChgTheatersAvgTotal
1 Dec 17-19 1 $16.9M — 1,993 $8,462 $16.9M
2 Dec 24-26 1 $11.1M −34.0% 2,008 $5,540 $36.0M
3 Dec 31-Jan 2 2 $13.1M +18.0% 2,008 $6,538 $61.1M
4 Jan 7-9 2 $8.6M −34.7% 2,022 $4,238 $73.5M
5 Jan 14-16 5 $5.8M −32.3% 1,934 $2,998 $81.7M
6 Jan 21-23 6 $3.7M −36.0% 1,809 $2,052 $86.6M
7 Jan 28-30 8 $2.8M −23.9% 1,730 $1,634 $90.3M
Weekend grossWk 7 · $2.8M
$16.9M
$11.1M
$13.1M
$8.6M
$5.8M
$3.7M
$2.8M
W1W2W3W4W5W6W7
Weekend-over-weekend dropWk 7 · −23.9%
−34.0%
W1→2
+18.0%
W2→3
−34.7%
W3→4
−32.3%
W4→5
−36.0%
W5→6
−23.9%
W6→7
Steepest −36.0%Biggest gain +18.0%

Profitability

Return on Budget
Theatrical breakeven point is approx. 2.5x production budget

Domestic vs International Split

Similar movies

Presumed Innocent 1990 · Pakula $86.3M The Devil's Own 1997 · Pakula $42.9M Training Day 2001 · Fuqua $76.6M John Q 2002 · Cassavetes $71.8M Ocean's Twelve 2004 · Soderbergh $125.5M Road to Perdition 2002 · Mendes $104M

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