The Book Thief
A young girl in Nazi Germany finds solace in stolen books and forbidden friendships while her foster family hides a Jewish man, as the horrors of war and the lies of the regime threaten to destroy them all.
“Courage beyond words.”
Synopsis
During World War II in Germany, young Liesel finds comfort in stealing books and sharing them with others. A Jewish refugee is hidden under the stairs in her home by her adoptive parents.
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 246+ 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 John WilsonShot by Florian BallhausScored by John WilliamsDesigned by Simon ElliottSound by Niv Adiri Nm1866364Costumes by Anna B SheppardVFX by Florian Gellinger
Box Office
2013 · Box office
💰 Box-office hit — grossed 4.0× 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
$76.6M
US & Canada: $21.5M — 28% of worldwide · International: $55.1M (72%)
Opening weekend: $105K — 0% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.
Opening week (7-day): $144K — 1% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 4 theaters
Full synopsis
Also known as
- Die Bücherdiebinde
- La ladrona de libroses
- La voleuse de livrefr
- La Voleuse de livresfr
- Storia di una ladra di libriit
- (English)The Book Thief
- (Bulgarian)Крадецът на книги
Release dates around the world2 countries · showhide
- United StatesOct 3, 2013
- Puerto RicoNov 14, 2013
Companies
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
246 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Sophie Nelisse
as Liesel Meminger
Geoffrey Rush
as Hans Hubermann
Emily Watson
as Rosa Hubermann
Ben Schnetzer
as Max Vandenburg
Roger Allam
as Narrator, Death
Heike Makatsch
as Liesel's Mother
Julian Lehmann
as Liesel's Brother
Gotthard Lange
as Grave Digger
Rainer Reiners
as Priest
Kirsten Block
as Frau Heinrich
Nico Liersch
as Rudy Steiner
Ludger Bokelmann
as Football Urchin
Supporting cast
28Paul Schaefer
as Football Urchin
Nozomi Linus Kaisar
as Fat Faced Goalie
Oliver Stokowski
as Alex Steiner
Robert Beyer
as Jewish Accountant
Hildegard Schroedter
as Frau Becker
Levin Liam
as Franz Deutscher
Sandra Nedeleff
as Max's Mother
Rafael Gareisen
as Walter - Nazi Soldier
Carl Heinz Choynski
as Jürgen the Groundsman
Carina Wiese
as Barbara Steiner
Rainer Bock
as Bürgermeister Hermann
Barbara Auer
as Ilsa Hermann
Sebastian Hulk
as Gestapo Agent
Beata Lehmann
as Woman with Champagne
Matthias Matschke
as Wolfgang
Laina Schwarz
as Neighbor
Marie Burchard
as Neighbor
Georg Tryphon
as Neighbor
Joachim Paul Assbock
as Officer
Martin Ontrop
as Herr Lehmann
Jan Andres
as Fellow Conscript
Stephanie Stremler
as Post Woman
Jesse Owens
as Self
Godehard Giese
as Policeman on Train
Adolf Hitler
as Self
Mike Maas
as Rolf Fischer
Norbert Mesmer
as Stranger
Arnold Weglorz
as Soldier Johann
Directors
1Writers
3Producers
8Other crew
203Bernhard Esperester
3d artist: RISE Visual Effects Studios
Anne Betkierowicz
accommodations & travel coordinator
Antje Langner
additional makeup artist: crowd
Karla Meirer
additional makeup artist: crowd
Monika Lienig
additional makeup artist: crowd
Natalia Jaik
additional makeup artist: crowd
Babette Broseke
additional makeup artist: crowd (as Babette Brosike)
Zoe Simijonovic
additional script supervisor (uncredited)
Tobias Asam
additional third assistant director: crowd (uncredited)
Dominik Avenwedde
adr recordist: Basis Berlin
Adam Dale
aerial director of photography: aerial unit
Lucia Foster Found
aerial operations coordinator: aerial unit
Parents 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 Book Thief 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 Book Thief 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 Book Thief?
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 Book Thief.
Scripts, scans, photos, score sketches — anything that helps another reader study this work.
Memorable quotes
Browse all →No quotes logged for The Book Thief 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 Book ThiefNo comments yet. Be the first to share what you think.
Edit history
Loading edit history…