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Released
1999 · FILM

Snow Falling on Cedars

A Japanese‑American fisherman is arrested for murdering his neighbor in post‑war Washington, and a local reporter must confront his own painful history to expose the truth before racial hatred ruins both their lives.

“First loves last forever.”

Directed by
Scott Hicks
Written by
David Guterson, Ron Bass
Runtime
127 min
DramaMysteryRomance

Synopsis

In the 1950s, a Japanese-American fisherman is suspected of murdering his neighbor at sea. For Ishmael, a local reporter, the trial becomes deeply personal when he discovers his former lover is connected to the case. As he delves into the investigation, he uncovers several startling clues that lead to a shocking revelation.

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: 23

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 Hank CorwinShot by Robert RichardsonScored by James Newton HowardDesigned by Jeannine Oppewall

Box Office

1999 · Box office

📉 Underperformed — grossed 0.7× 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

$23.0M

Budget$35.0M
Worldwide gross$23.0M
break-even (2.5×)

US & Canada: $14.4M — 63% of worldwide · International: $8.6M (37%)

Opening weekend: $19K — 0% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.

Opening week (7-day): $19K — 0% of its US & Canada run.

Peak 3 theaters

Also known as

  • Schnee der auf Zedern fälltde
  • Schnee, der auf Zedern fälltde
  • Mientras nieva sobre los cedroses
  • La neige tombait sur les cèdresfr
  • La neve cade sui cedriit

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