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Released
2007 · FILM

Dan in Real Life

Advice columnist Dan Burns tries to keep his chaotic household of three curious daughters afloat while pursuing a new romance, only to discover the woman he’s falling for is his brother’s new girlfriend, forcing him to choose between love and family loyalty.

“Something's happening to Dan. It's confusing. It's awkward. It's family.”

Directed by
Peter Hedges, Daniela Barbosa
Written by
Pierce Gardner, Peter Hedges
Rated
MPA · PG-13
Runtime
98 min
ComedyDramaRomance

Synopsis

Dan Burns works as an advice columnist specializing in relationships, yet he has difficulty fulfilling his roles as a brother, a son, and a single parent to three energetic daughters. The situation becomes more complex when Dan discovers that the woman he falls in love with is actually his brother.

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 380+ 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 Sarah FlackShot by Lawrence SherScored by Sondre LercheDesigned by Sarah KnowlesSound by Robert FernandezCostumes by Alix FriedbergStunts by Erik SolkyVFX by David Lingenfelser

Box Office

2007 · Box office

✅ Made its money back — grossed 2.7× 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

$68.5M

Budget$25.0M
Worldwide gross$68.5M
break-even (2.5×)

US & Canada: $47.6M — 70% of worldwide · International: $20.8M (30%)

Opening weekend: $11.8M — 25% of its US run.

Opening week (7-day): $14.8M — 31% of its US & Canada run.

Peak 1,921 theaters

Also known as

  • (English)Dan in Real Life
  • Dan - Mitten im Lebende
  • Dan- Mitten im Lebende
  • Coup de foudre à Rhode Islandfr
  • L'amore secondo Danit
  • (Bulgarian)Дан в реалния живот
Release dates around the world4 countries · show
  • CanadaOct 26, 2007
  • United StatesOct 26, 2007
  • EstoniaNov 23, 2007
  • IcelandNov 23, 2007

Production & Distribution

Production companies
Touchstone PicturesFocus FeaturesJon Shestack ProductionsDan In Real Life Productions
Distributors
Walt Disney Studios Motion PicturesBuena Vista Pictures DistributionFocus FeaturesOdeonBlue Sky Media
Special effectsFurious FX
Other companiesARRI / Camera Service Center, Behind the Scenes Freight, C.P. Casting, Cinema Mechanics, City of Providence

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