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Released
1978 · FILM

Midnight Express

A naive American student sentenced to a nightmarish Turkish prison must outwit sadistic guards and his own desperation to engineer the daring “Midnight Express” before his life is crushed forever.

“Walk into the incredible true experience of Billy Hayes. And bring all the courage you can.”

Directed by
Alan Parker, Alan Parker Nm0000570
Written by
Oliver Stone, Billy Hayes
Rated
MPA · R
Runtime
121 min
BiographyCrimeDrama

Synopsis

Billy Hayes is arrested for attempting to smuggle drugs out of a country. The courts choose to make an example of him, sentencing him to over 30 years in prison. Hayes is given two potential paths to freedom: appeals supported by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight Express."

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 93+ 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 Gerry HamblingShot by Michael SeresinScored by Giorgio MoroderDesigned by Geoffrey KirklandSound by Clive WinterCostumes by Milena Canonero

Box Office

1978 · Box office

💰 Box-office hit — grossed 15× 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

$35.0M

Budget$2.3M
Worldwide gross$35.0M
break-even (2.5×)

Also known as

  • 12 Uhr Nachtsde
  • 12 Uhr nachts - Midnight Expressde
  • Fuga di mezzanotteit
  • (Bulgarian)Среднощен експрес
Release dates around the world4 countries · show
  • FranceMay 18, 1978
  • United KingdomAug 10, 1978
  • NetherlandsAug 31, 1978
  • FinlandSep 1, 1978

Companies

ProductionColumbia Pictures, Casablanca Filmworks
DistributionColumbia Pictures, Columbia Films, Columbia International Films, Columbia-Warner Distributors
Other companiesBlowup, Casablanca Records, Columbia Pictures Corporation, Joe Dunton & Company, Lee Lighting

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