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Theatrical Trailer

Empire of the Sun(1987)
Released
1987 · FILM

Empire of the Sun

A privileged British schoolboy stranded in occupied Shanghai during World War II must survive the chaos of war and navigate the dangerous underworld of expatriates and street urchins to reunite with his family.

“To survive in a world at war, he must find a strength greater than all the events that surround him.”

Directed by
Manuel L Canizares, Asad Qureshi
Written by
J G Ballard, Tom Stoppard
Rated
MPA · PG
Runtime
153 min
DramaWar
Streaming on
  • Paramount+

Synopsis

Jamie Graham is an English boy from a privileged background who resides in Shanghai when the Japanese invasion forces all foreigners into prison camps. He is captured along with an American sailor, who takes care of him during their time together in the camp. Despite being separated from his parents and placed in a hostile environment, Jamie preserves his dignity and youthful spirit, offering hope to the other captives.

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 523+ 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 Allen DaviauScored by John WilliamsDesigned by Norman ReynoldsSound by Louis L EdemannCostumes by Bob RingwoodStunts by Vic Armstrong

Box Office

1987 · Box office

⚖️ Fell short of break-even — grossed 1.9× 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

$66.7M

Budget$35.0M
Worldwide gross$66.7M
break-even (2.5×)

US & Canada: $22.2M — 33% of worldwide · International: $44.5M (67%)

Opening weekend: $1.3M — 6% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.

Opening week (7-day): $1.9M — 9% of its US & Canada run.

Peak 225 theaters

Full synopsis

Also known as

  • Das Reich der Sonnede
  • (English)Empire of the Sun
  • El imperio del soles
  • Empire du soleilfr
  • L'impero del soleit
  • (Bulgarian)Империя на слънцето
Release dates around the world3 countries · show
  • United StatesDec 8, 1987
  • ArgentinaDec 25, 1987
  • GermanyFeb 23, 1988

Production & Distribution

Production companies
Warner Bros.Amblin Entertainment

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