Lady in the Water
Apartment superintendent Cleveland Heep must safeguard a mysterious water‑nymph rescued from his building’s pool and guide her back to her hidden realm before deadly, wolf‑like creatures destroy both her world and his own.
“Time is running out for a happy ending.”
Synopsis
Cleveland Heep, an apartment building superintendent, rescues what he believes to be a young woman from the pool he maintains. Upon discovering that she is, in fact, a character from a bedtime story attempting to return to her world, he enlists the help of his tenants to shield her from creatures intent on keeping her in theirs.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 661+ 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 Barbara TulliverShot by Christopher DoyleScored by James Newton HowardDesigned by Martin ChildsSound by Steve BoeddekerCostumes by Betsy HeimannStunts by Julia DumenigoVFX by Ed Hirsh
Box Office
2006 · Box office
⚖️ Fell short of break-even — grossed 1.0× 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
$72.8M
US & Canada: $42.3M — 58% of worldwide · International: $30.5M (42%)
Opening weekend: $18.0M — 43% of its US run. Front-loaded — most of its money arrived opening weekend.
Opening week (7-day): $25.1M — 59% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 3,235 theaters
Also known as
- Das Mädchen aus dem Wasserde
- Lady In The Water: Das Mädchen aus dem Wasserde
- La Jeune Fille de l'eaufr
- (English)Lady in the Water
- (Bulgarian)Жената от водата
Release dates around the world4 countries · showhide
- United StatesJul 17, 2006
- PhilippinesJul 19, 2006
- ThailandJul 20, 2006
- SingaporeJul 27, 2006
Production & Distribution
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Cast & Crew
661 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Paul Giamatti
as Cleveland Heep
Bryce Dallas Howard
as Story
Jeffrey Wright
as Mr. Dury
Bob Balaban
as Harry Farber
Sarita Choudhury
as Anna Ran
Cindy Cheung
as Young-Soon Choi
M Night Shyamalan
as Vick Ran
Freddy Rodriguez
as Reggie
Bill Irwin
as Mr. Leeds
Mary Beth Hurt
as Mrs. Bell
Noah Gray Cabey
as Joey Dury
Joseph D Reitman
as Long Haired Smoker
Supporting cast
40Jared Harris
as Goatee Smoker
Grant Monohon
as Emaciated Smoker
John Boyd
as One-Eyebrow Smoker
Ethan Cohn
as Glasses Smoker
June Kyoto Lu
as Mrs. Choi
Tovah Feldshuh
as Mrs. Bubchik
Tom Mardirosian
as Mr. Bubchik
Maricruz Hernandez
as Perez de la Torre Sister #1
Carla Jimenez
as Perez de la Torre Sister #2
Natasha Perez
as Perez de la Torre Sister #3
Monique Gabriela Curnen
as Perez de la Torre Sister #4
Marilyn Torres
as Perez de la Torre Sister #5
George Bass
as Mr. Perez de la Torre
Joel Marsh Garland
as Pool Guy
James Breen
as SPCA Guy
Nell Johnson
as Phone Message
Walter Lafty
as Silvertide Band Member
Mark Melchiorre
as Silvertide Band Member
Kevin Frank
as Silvertide Band Member
Brian Weaver
as Silvertide Band Member
Nick Perri
as Silvertide Band Member
Jeremy Howard
as Tartutic #1
Brian Steele
as Tartutic #2
Kurt Carley
as Tartutic #3
Doug Jones
as Tartutic #4
J Bloomrosen
as Extra - The Divorced Man
Marques Chaney
as Party guest
Alexander Emmert
as Blond Smoker
Laura Giglio
as Party Member
Joshua David Hickey
as Party-Goer
Molly Howe
as Maddy
Robert L Mickles
as Brown Shirt Party Guest
Keith Moyer
as Party Guest
Mark J Parker
as Party Guest
Ashley Platz
as Building Tennant
Eugene Smith
as Party Guest
David Ogden Stiers
as Narrator
Towanda Underdue
as Apartment Tenant
Dan Van Wert
as Apartment Resident
Mat Wright
as Party Guest
Directors
1Writers
2Producers
18Amy Minch
the producers wish to thank
Carl Cadden James
the producers wish to thank
Christopher Cram
visual effects associate producer
Glenn Kiser
the producers wish to thank
James Herring
the producers wish to thank
Jay Rubin
the producers wish to thank
Jeanie King
visual effects producer (as Jeanmarie King), visual effects producer
Jeremy Zimmer
the producers wish to thank
Jim Gardner
the producers wish to thank
John Rusk
associate producer
Jose L Rodriguez
associate producer
Karen Truman Downing
the producers wish to thank
M Night Shyamalan
Producer
Marc H Glick
the producers wish to thank
Meghan Keener
additional assistant to producer
Peter Benedek
the producers wish to thank
Sam Mercer
Producer
Stephen Breimer
the producers wish to thank
Other crew
595Christina Ann Wilson
(as Christina Wilson), as Christina Wilson
Lora Marie Taylor
accountant: client services
Marisa Murphy
accounting clerk
Stephanie M Casey
additional assistant editor
Michael Leonard
additional first assistant camera
Joseph Mcfadden
additional production assistant
Kev Ketner
additional production assistant
Nick Klinger
additional production assistant
Keith Potter
additional second assistant director
Randy Thom
additional sound effects (uncredited)
Marilyn Mccoppen
adr editor
Troy Porter
adr mixer
Parents Guide
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