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Poster for Running on Empty
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Released
1988 · FILM

Running on Empty

A restless teenage son of a decades‑long fugitive couple risks everything to pursue his first love and a chance at an ordinary future, even as the relentless FBI closes in on his family's hidden past.

“They chose their lives. Now their son must choose his.”

Directed by
Sidney Lumet
Written by
Naomi Foner
Runtime
116 min
CrimeDramaMusic
Streaming on
  • Paramount+

Synopsis

The Popes are a family who have been unable to use their real identity for years. In the late 1960s, the parents set a weapons lab on fire in an attempt to disrupt the government's Vietnam War campaign. Since then, the Popes have been in constant flight, with authorities always close behind. Their survival is jeopardized when their eldest son falls in love with a girl and declares his desire to live life on his own terms.

Credits

Actors
Editor
Production Designer
Director of Photography
Writers
Director

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

Principal cast & crew: 19

These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.

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 Andrew MondsheinShot by Gerry FisherScored by Tony MottolaDesigned by Philip Rosenberg

Box Office

1988 · Box office

Grossed $2.8M worldwide

Worldwide gross

$2.8M

Worldwide gross$2.8M

Opening weekend: $215K — 8% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.

Opening week (7-day): $311K — 11% of its US & Canada run.

Peak 22 theaters

Also known as

  • Die Flucht ins Ungewissede
  • Un lugar en ninguna partees
  • À bout de coursefr
  • Vivere in fugait

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