Explorers
A sci‑fi‑obsessed teen and his friends build a homemade spaceship to prove their wildest dreams, only to confront mysterious extraterrestrials that threaten their daring journey beyond Earth.
“The adventure begins in your own back yard.”
Synopsis
Ben, a middle schooler, spends his free time watching science fiction films, playing video games, and reading comic books. His passion for the fantastical unexpectedly leads to a tangible outcome when a vivid dream about technology inspires his prodigy friend Wolfgang to build a functional spacecraft. With their friend Darren, the boys embark on a journey into outer space, where they encounter unusual extraterrestrial life.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
Principal cast & crew: 20
These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.
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 Tina HirschShot by John HoraScored by Jerry GoldsmithDesigned by Robert F Boyle
Box Office
1985 · Box office
📉 Underperformed — grossed 0.4× 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
$9.9M
US & Canada: $9.9M — 100% of worldwide · International: $27K (0%)
Opening weekend: $3.6M — 37% of its US run. Front-loaded — most of its money arrived opening weekend.
Opening week (7-day): $5.5M — 56% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 1,750 theaters
Also known as
- Explorers - Ein phantastisches Abenteuerde
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Cast & Crew
20 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Ethan Hawke
as Ben Crandall
River Phoenix
as Wolfgang Müller
Bobby Fite
as Steve Jackson
Bradley Gregg
as Steve Jackson's Gang
Georg Olden
as Steve Jackson's Gang
Chance Schwass
as Steve Jackson's Gang
Amanda Peterson
as Lori Swenson
Danny Nucci
as Nasty Kid at School
Jason Presson
as Darren Woods
Dana Ivey
as Mrs. Müller
Directors
1Writers
1Producers
2Other crew
6Parents Guide
AI Personalities
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Where to watch
Not currently streaming on any platform we track.
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