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Poster for March of the Penguins
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Released
2005 · FILM

March of the Penguins

A determined emperor penguin braves Antarctica’s brutal cold, relentless storms and hungry predators to lead its mate on a 70‑mile trek to the breeding grounds and safeguard their future chick.

“In the harshest place on Earth, love finds a way.”

Directed by
Luc Jacquet, Jerome Maison
Written by
Luc Jacquet, Michel Fessler
Rated
MPA · G
Runtime
80 min
Language
FR
DocumentaryFamily

Synopsis

Every year, thousands of emperor penguins in Antarctica make a remarkable journey to breed their young. They travel in single file, walking day and night for 70 miles into the continent, which is the darkest, driest, and coldest on Earth. This true-life story is presented with humor and excitement, showcasing the penguins' journey through breathtaking photography. The images capture the beauty and drama of parent penguins who, during the harsh polar winter, take turns protecting their egg and traveling to the ocean for food. They face predators and severe storms, but the safety of their young makes the effort worthwhile. So follow the leader... to adventure.

Credits

Actors
Editor
Director of Photography
Writers
Directors

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

A crew of 157+ 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 Sabine EmilianiShot by Laurent ChaletScored by Emilie SimonSound by Scott A Jennings

Box Office

2005 · Box office

💰 Box-office hit — grossed 16× 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

$127.4M

Budget$8.0M
Worldwide gross$127.4M
break-even (2.5×)

US & Canada: $77.4M — 61% of worldwide · International: $50.0M (39%)

Also known as

  • Die Reise der Pinguinede
  • March of the Penguinsen
  • The Emperor's Journeyen
  • The March of the Penguinsen
  • La marcia dei pinguiniit

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