Searching for Bobby Fischer
A gifted young chess prodigy must toughen his mind and outwit ruthless mentors to chase the legendary title of Bobby Fischer before his own innocence is lost.
“Every journey begins with a single move.”
Synopsis
A prepubescent chess prodigy is encouraged to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 142+ 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 Wayne WahrmanShot by Conrad L HallScored by James HornerDesigned by David Gropman
Box Office
1993 · Box office
📉 Underperformed — grossed 0.6× 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
$7.3M
Opening weekend: $1.1M — 15% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.
Opening week (7-day): $2.1M — 29% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 219 theaters
Also known as
- Das Königsspielde
- Das Königsspiel – Ein Meister wird geborende
- Innocent Movesen
- À la recherche de Bobby Fischerfr
- In cerca di Bobby Fischerit
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Cast & Crew
142 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Joe Mantegna
as Fred Waitzkin
Ben Kingsley
as Bruce Pandolfini
Max Pomeranc
as Josh Waitzkin
Joan Allen
as Bonnie Waitzkin
Laurence Fishburne
as Vinnie
Michael Nirenberg
as Jonathan Poe
Robert Stephens
as Poe's Teacher
David Paymer
as Kalev
Hal Scardino
as Morgan
Vasek Simek
as Russian Park Player
William H Macy
Dan Hedaya
Supporting cast
42Laura Linney
Anthony Heald
Steven Randazzo
Chelsea Moore
Josh Mostel
Josh Kornbluth
Tony Shalhoub
Austin Pendleton
Tom Mcgowan
Ona Fletcher
Kamran Shirazi
Joel Benjamin
Roman Dzindzichashvili
Jerry Poe Mcclinton
Matt De Matt
as Matt De Matt Reines)
Vincent Smith
Jerry Rakow
William Colgate
Tony De Santis
R D Reid
Anthony Mcgowen
Katya Waitzkin
Ryder Fleming Jones
Harris Krofchick
John Bourgeois
Maria Ricossa
Caroline Yeager
Andrew Sardella
Nathan Carter
Nicholas Taylor
Jonathan Fazio
Nicky Mellina
Philip Neiman
Elizabeth Gropman
Bobby Fischer
Matt Birman
Robert Anthony Carswell
James Garrigan
Bruce Pandolfini
Edd Scorpio
Thomas Spindler
Josh Waitzkin
Directors
1Writers
2Producers
4Other crew
85Denis Kirkham
Art Department
Dennis Davenport
Art Department
Doug Mclean
Art Department
James Halpenny
Art Department
Jason Herriott
Art Department
Mark O Donoghue
Art Department
Patrick Mccaffery
Art Department
Peter Hudecki
Art Department
Richard M Snider
Art Department
Robert S Smith
Art Department
Andy Langevin
Camera and Electrical Department
Ciaran Copelin
Camera and Electrical Department
Parents Guide
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