
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
When a French scientist and his American partner uncover a WWII bomber frozen in the Sonoran Desert—and learn a cargo ship has reappeared in the Gobi—they must race against escalating global power outages and terrifying UFO sightings to stop an otherworldly force from reshaping reality.
“We are not alone.”
Synopsis
Following an encounter with unidentified flying objects, an electricity linesman becomes inexplicably drawn to a remote area in the wilderness, where a significant and dramatic event is about to unfold.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 425+ 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 Michael KahnShot by Vilmos ZsigmondScored by John WilliamsDesigned by Joe AlvesSound by Frank E WarnerStunts by Buddy Joe HookerVFX by Robert Swarthe
Box Office
1977 · Box office
💰 Box-office hit — grossed 15× 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
$306.9M
US & Canada: $116.4M — 38% of worldwide · International: $190.5M (62%)
Re-release box office
- 2017901 theaters
- $5.2M($7.0M today)
Domestic gross earned in theatrical re-release, by year · adjusted for inflation
Full synopsis
Other versions & cuts
- Unheimliche Begegnung der dritten ArtDirector's Cut
These are distinct edits of the film. Their own runtime and release year aren’t on file yet — we only have the alternate title so far.
Also known as
- Die unheimliche Begegnung der 3. Artde
- Unheimliche Begegnung der dritten Artde
- Encuentros cercanos del tercer tipoes
- Encuentros en la tercera fasees
- Rencontres du troisième typefr
- Incontri ravvicinati del terzo tipoit
Production & Distribution
Community tags
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Cast & Crew
425 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Richard Dreyfuss
as Roy Neary
Francois Truffaut
as Claude Lacombe
Teri Garr
as Ronnie Neary
Melinda Dillon
as Jillian Guiler
Bob Balaban
as David Laughlin
J Patrick Mcnamara
as Project Leader
Warren J Kemmerling
as Wild Bill
Roberts Blossom
as Farmer
Philip Dodds
as Jean Claude
Cary Guffey
as Barry Guiler
Bella Thurman
as as Air Traffic
Shawn Bishop
as Brad Neary
Supporting cast
62Adrienne Campbell
as Silvia Neary
Justin Dreyfuss
as Toby Neary
Lance Henriksen
as Robert
Merrill Connally
as Team Leader
George Dicenzo
as Major Benchley
Amy Douglass
as Implantee
Alexander Lockwood
as Implantee
Gene Dynarski
as Ike
Mary Gafrey
as Mrs. Harris
Norman Bartold
as Ohio Tolls
Josef Sommer
as Larry Butler
Michael J Dyer
as Rev. Michael J. Dyer
Roger Ernest
as Highway Patrolman
Carl Weathers
as Military Police
F J O Neil
as ARP Project Member
Phil Dodds
as ARP Musician
Randy Mark Herman
as Returnee #1 Flt. 19
Hal Barwood
as Returnee #2 Flt. 19
Matthew Robbins
as Returnee #3 Flt. 19
David Anderson
as Air Traffic Controller
Richard L Hawkins
as Air Traffic Controller
Craig Shreeve
as Air Traffic
Bill Thurman
as Air Traffic
Roy E Richards
as Air East Pilot
Gene Rader
as Hawker
Eumenio Blanco
as Sunburned Old Man
Daniel Nunez
as Federale
Chuy Franco
as Mexican Federale
Luis Contreras
as Federale
James Keane
as Radio Telescope Team
Dennis Mcmullen
as Radio Telescope Team
Cy Young
as Radio Telescope Team
Tom Howard
as Radio Telescope Team
Richard Stuart
as Truck Dispatcher
Bob Westmoreland
as Load Dispatcher
Matt Emery
as Support Leader
Galen Thompson
as Special Forces Soldier
John Dennis Johnston
as Special Forces
John Ewing
as Dirty Tricks #1
Keith Atkinson
as Dirty Tricks #2
Robert Broyles
as Dirty Tricks #3
Kirk Raymond
as Dirty Tricks #4
Lewis Abernathy
as Technician
Brodi Barringer
as Boy
Bennett Wayne Dean Sr
as Scientist
Danyi Deats
as Alien
Elmer
as Dog exiting Mothership
Basil Hoffman
as Longly
J Allen Hynek
as Smoking Pipe at Landing Site
Jenny Inge
as #1 Alien
Monty Jordan
as Special Forces Commander, Helicopter Pilot
John Lindsey
as Reporter
Shay Mclean
as Speaking Child
Dejah Moore
as Receptionist
Carl Neal
as Extra
Monty O Grady
as Agent
Julia Phillips
as UFO watcher at Crescendo Summit
Murray Pollack
as Agent
Stephen Powers
as UN Observer
David Rambow
as Special Forces Hazmat Soldier
Howard K Smith
as Howard K. Smith
John Edd Thompson
as Weatherman
Directors
1Writers
4Producers
7Clark L Paylow
Producers, associate producer (as Clark Paylow)
John Williams Nm0002354
conductor / music producer / orchestrator (uncredited)
Judy Bornstein
second assistant to producers
Julia Phillips
Producer, Producers
Kendall Cooper
assistant to producers
Michael Phillips
Producer
Michael Phillips Nm0680635
Producer, Producers
Other crew
354Daniel A Lomino
(as Dan Lomino)
Sally Dennison
additional casting
Frank Stanley
additional director of photography (uncredited)
John A Alonzo
additional director of photography (as John Alonzo)
Laszlo Kovacs
additional director of photography (as Laszlo Kovacs)
Don Baker
additional effects photography (1980 special edition) (uncredited)
Jerome Gilmer
additional music by (uncredited)
Angela Morley
additional orchestrator / composer: additional music (uncredited)
Chris Strong
additional photography (uncredited)
Jim Dickson
additional photography (uncredited)
Joseph Westheimer
additional photography (uncredited)
Peter W Anderson
additional photography, special consultant: credited / additional model photography / model and minature electronics (uncredited)
Parents Guide
AI Personalities
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Ratings & reviews
Official ratings
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Where to watch
Live · bot-verified- The Criterion ChannelStream
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Trailers
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Official Trailer
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