The Abyss
A U.S. SEAL team and a brilliant but estranged scientist must uncover the truth behind a sunken submarine and a mysterious underwater signal at a remote drilling platform, as time runs out against a deadly hurricane and the encroaching Soviets.
“When you get there, you will understand.”
Synopsis
A civilian oil‑rig crew is recruited to carry out a search and rescue operation after a nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks. One diver subsequently embarks on an odyssey 25,000 feet beneath the ocean.
Credits
Related titles
No curated related titles yet. Use the edit affordance to add "More from this director", "Same franchise", or "Adaptation source material" entries — every change goes through the wiki review queue.
How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 43+ 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 Conrad Buff IvShot by Mikael SalomonScored by Alan SilvestriDesigned by Leslie Dilley
Box Office
1989 · Box office
⚖️ Fell short of break-even — grossed 2.1× 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
$90.0M
US & Canada: $54.2M — 60% of worldwide · International: $35.8M (40%)
Opening weekend: $9.3M — 17% of its US run.
Opening week (7-day): $17.5M — 32% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 1,533 theaters
Full synopsis
Also known as
- Abyss – Abgrund des Todesde
- Abyssfr
Community tags
Be the first to tag this page — tags appear right away. Try a theme, capability, or subject (e.g. WWII, heist, slow burn, time travel, A24).
Cast & Crew
43 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Ed Harris
as Bud Brigman
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
as Lindsey Brigman
Michael Biehn
as Lt. Coffey
Leo Burmester
as Catfish De Vries
Todd Graff
as Alan 'Hippy' Carnes
John Bedford Lloyd
as Jammer Willis
J C Quinn
as 'Sonny' Dawson
Kimberly Scott
as Lisa 'One Night' Standing
Chris Elliott
as Bendix
Captain Kidd Brewer Jr
as Lew Finler
George Robert Klek
as Wilhite
Pierce Oliver Brewer Jr
as Lew Finler
Supporting cast
20Christopher Murphy
as Schoenick
Adam Nelson
as Ensign Monk
Dick Warlock
as Dwight Perry
Jimmie Ray Weeks
as Leland McBride
J Kenneth Campbell
as DeMarco
Peter Ratray
as Captain
Michael Beach
as Barnes
Ken Jenkins
as Gerard Kirkhill
Michael Chapman
as Dr. Berg
William Wisher
as Bill Tyler
Wendy Gordon
as Anchorwoman
Paula Cross
as Young Woman
Emily Yancy
as Woman Reporter
Joe Farago
as Anchorman
Marcus K Mukai
as Anchorman #2
Thomas F Duffy
as Construction Worker
Chris Anastasio
as Truck Driver
Tom Isbell
as Wave Reporter
Mikhail Gorbachev
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Frank Lloyd
as Navigator
Directors
1Writers
1Producers
2Other crew
8Parents Guide
AI Personalities
Advisory Bot AI
I keep the family-safety picture honest — community advisories, AI-moderated, summarized without spin.
Ratings & reviews
Official ratings
We’re attempting to crowdsource this data.
Please submit below if you know where it’s available in your region — accurate confirmations help everyone find what they’re looking for.
Where to watch
Not currently streaming on any platform we track.
Gallery
Add imageNo community images for The Abyss yet
Add a still, a storyboard, or concept art — every image gets its own page where members can discuss it.
Trailers
No trailers logged for The Abyss yet — add the first one below.
Spot a trailer we’re missing?
Add a trailer from any film, show, or game.
Media & Uploads
Scripts, set photos, storyboards, score sketches — community-curated reference material for film students and industry professionals.
Did you or a loved one work on The Abyss?
Every stage matters — pitch decks and treatments from development, location scouts and table-reads from pre-production, set photos and crew anecdotes from production, edit-bay notes from post, and press kits, festival memories, or marketing ephemera from distribution. Any moment that didn't make the press tour, any document or photograph that's been sitting in a box — please share it so it's not lost to time.
We particularly welcome contributions from writers, producers, cast, crew, festival programmers, distributors, marketing teams, their families, and anyone who was there at any stage.
Sign in to contribute scripts, stills, photos, or behind-the-scenes stories.
Be the first to share something on The Abyss.
Scripts, scans, photos, score sketches — anything that helps another reader study this work.
Memorable quotes
Browse all →No quotes logged for The Abyss yet — add the first memorable line below.
Got a quote we’re missing?
Submit a line from any film, show, or game.
The conversation
Loading the conversation…
Comments (0)
on The AbyssNo comments yet. Be the first to share what you think.
Edit history
Loading edit history…