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Poster for American Beauty
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Theatrical Trailer

American Beauty(1999)
Released
1999 · FILM

American Beauty

Lester Burnham, a disillusioned media executive trapped in a loveless marriage and dead-end life, begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter and rediscover his own identity when his reclusive, military-minded neighbor and his troubled son upend the fragile balance of their suburban world.

“... look closer”

Directed by
Sam Mendes, Tony Adler
Written by
Alan Ball, Alan Ball Nm0050332
Rated
FSK · FSK 16
Runtime
122 min
Drama
Streaming on
  • Hoopla

Synopsis

Lester Burnham, a suburban father experiencing depression and a mid-life crisis, becomes determined to change his chaotic life after becoming infatuated with his daughter's attractive friend.

Credits

Actors
Editor
Production Designer
Director of Photography
Writers
Directors

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

A crew of 388+ credited

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by Tariq AnwarShot by Conrad L HallScored by Thomas NewmanDesigned by Naomi ShohanSound by Bob BeemerCostumes by Julie WeissStunts by Ben ScottVFX by David Goldberg

Box Office

1999 · Box office

💰 Box-office hit — grossed 24× its budget

Why 2.5×?

Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).

Worldwide gross

$356.3M

Budget$15.0M
Worldwide gross$356.3M
break-even (2.5×)

US & Canada: $130.1M — 37% of worldwide · International: $226.2M (63%)

Full synopsis

Also known as

  • American Beautyde
Release dates around the world2 countries · show
  • United StatesSep 8, 1999
  • CanadaSep 11, 1999

Production & Distribution

Production companies
DreamWorks PicturesJinks/Cohen Company

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