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Released
1996 · FILM

Phenomenon

When a humble small‑town clerk is struck by a mysterious light that gifts him super‑intelligence and telekinesis, he must decide how far to push his newfound powers before they jeopardize the love and life he cherishes.

“Some things in life just can't be explained.”

Directed by
Jon Turteltaub, George Bamber
Written by
Gerald Di Pego
Rated
MPA · PG
Runtime
123 min
DramaFantasyRomance

Synopsis

An ordinary man witnesses a bright light descending from the sky and later discovers that he has gained super-intelligence and the ability to move objects with his mind.

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 196+ 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 Bruce GreenShot by Phedon PapamichaelScored by Thomas NewmanDesigned by Garreth StoverSound by Michael HerbickCostumes by Betsy CoxStunts by Jeff Cadiente

Box Office

1996 · Box office

💰 Box-office hit — grossed 4.8× 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

$152.0M

Budget$32.0M
Worldwide gross$152.0M
break-even (2.5×)

US & Canada: $104.6M — 69% of worldwide · International: $47.4M (31%)

Opening weekend: $16.2M — 15% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.

Opening week (7-day): $25.0M — 24% of its US & Canada run.

Peak 1,637 theaters

Also known as

  • Phenomenon - Das Unmögliche wird wahrde
  • Phénomènefr
  • (Bulgarian)Феномен
Release dates around the world4 countries · show
  • United StatesJun 22, 1996
  • United KingdomJul 4, 1996
  • AustraliaAug 8, 1996
  • SwedenAug 16, 1996

Companies

ProductionTouchstone Pictures, Michael Taylor Productions
DistributionBuena Vista Pictures Distribution, Buena Vista International, Kommunenes Filmcentral (KF)
Special effectsSony Pictures Imageworks (SPI)
Other companiesWarner Hollywood Studios, Paramount Pictures Scoring Stage M, The Village Recorder, Tony's Food Service, Birds & Animals Unlimited

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