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Released
1993 · FILM

Cliffhanger

When a guilt-ridden mountain ranger is drawn back into the wilderness to stop a rogue mercenary's deadly heist, he must confront his past and fight to survive in a high-stakes battle of wits and will.

“Hang on.”

Directed by
Renny Harlin, Howell Caldwell
Written by
John Long, Michael France
Rated
MPA · R
Runtime
113 min
ActionAdventureThriller
Streaming on
  • Paramount+

Synopsis

A year after his friend's tragic death in a 4,000-foot fall, former ranger Gabe Walker and his partner, Hal, are called back to the same mountain peak to rescue a group of stranded climbers. Upon arrival, they discover that the climbers are actually hijackers who have taken the mountain to search for boxes containing money.

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 242+ 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 Frank J UriosteShot by Alex ThomsonScored by Trevor JonesDesigned by John ValloneSound by Gregg BaxterCostumes by Cynthia L HamiltonStunts by Simon CraneVFX by John Bruno Nm0116497

Box Office

1993 · Box office

✅ Made its money back — grossed 3.6× 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

$255.0M

Budget$70.0M
Worldwide gross$255.0M
break-even (2.5×)

US & Canada: $84.0M — 33% of worldwide · International: $171.0M (67%)

Opening weekend: $16.2M — 19% of its US run.

Opening week (7-day): $25.0M — 30% of its US & Canada run.

Peak 2,333 theaters

Full synopsis

Versions & cuts

  • workprint· 124 min

Also known as

  • Cliffhanger - Nur die Starken überlebende
  • Cliffhänger - Nur die Starken überlebende
  • Cliffhanger : Traque au sommetfr
  • Cliffhanger, traque au sommetfr
  • Cliffhanger - L'ultima sfidait
  • (literal English title)Rock Climber
Release dates around the world3 countries · show
  • FranceMay 20, 1993
  • United StatesMay 26, 1993
  • South KoreaJun 12, 1993

Companies

ProductionCarolco Pictures, Canal+, Pioneer

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