Milk
A charismatic photographer turns San Francisco’s emerging Castro district into a beacon of LGBTQ activism, battling entrenched prejudice and political corruption to become the city’s first openly gay elected official.
“Never blend in.”
Synopsis
Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office. In the late 1970s, he became an activist for gay rights in San Francisco, inspiring others to join him in his efforts to promote equal rights for all Americans.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 48+ 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 Elliot GrahamShot by Harris SavidesScored by Danny ElfmanDesigned by Bill Groom
Box Office
2008 · Box office
✅ Made its money back — grossed 2.7× 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
$54.6M
US & Canada: $31.8M — 58% of worldwide · International: $22.8M (42%)
Opening weekend: $488K — 2% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.
Opening week (7-day): $488K — 2% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 34 theaters
Full synopsis
Also known as
- Harvey Milkfr
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Cast & Crew
48 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Sean Penn
as Harvey Milk
Josh Brolin
as Dan White
Emile Hirsch
as Cleve Jones
Diego Luna
as Jack Lira
James Franco
as Scott Smith
Alison Pill
as Anne Kronenberg
Victor Garber
as Mayor Moscone
Denis O Hare
as John Briggs
Joseph Cross
as Dick Pabich
Stephen Spinella
as Rick Stokes
Boyd Holbrook
as Denton Smith
Lucas Grabeel
as Danny Nicoletta
Supporting cast
28Jeff Koons
as Art Agnos
Brent Corrigan
as Telephone Tree #3
Dave Franco
as Telephone Tree #5
Elias Mcconnell
as Telephone Tree #8
Ashlee Temple
as Dianne Feinstein
Brandon Boyce
as Jim Rivaldo
Kelvin Yu
as Michael Wong
Cleve Jones
as Don Amador
Dustin Lance Black
as Castro Clone
Joshua Grannell
as Peaches Christ
Blake Cooper Griffin
as Castro Man
Tim Halpin
as SFPD Motor Cop
Richard Gross
as Riot Cop
Drew Kuhse
as Pizza Delivery Man
Catherine Cook
as Opera Performer - Tosca
Joe Meyers
as Opera Performer - Spoletta
Ryan Hellquist
as Law Student (uncredited)
Anita Bryant
as Self (archive footage)
Walter Cronkite
as Self (archive footage)
Ronald Reagan
as Self (archive footage)
Harvey Milk
as Self (archive footage)
Dan White
as Self (archive footage)
Howard Rosenman
as David Goodstein
Lynn Mcree
as Moscone's Secretary
Jerry Brown
as Self (archive footage)
Frank M Robinson
as Frank Robinson
Ted Jan Roberts
as Dennis Peron
Jeffrey Schwarz
as Castro Man (uncredited)
Directors
1Writers
1Producers
2Other crew
5Parents Guide
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