The Cider House Rules
Orphan apprentice doctor Homer longs to leave the isolated Maine orphanage and forge his own life, but must confront his mentor’s rigid moral code and the painful choices that define love, duty, and independence.
“A story about how far we must travel to find the place where we belong.”
Synopsis
Homer is an orphan who was never adopted and becomes the favorite of the orphanage director, Dr. Larch. Dr. Larch teaches Homer all his medical knowledge, enabling Homer to become a skilled, though unlicensed, physician. However, Homer longs for a life of his own choosing beyond the orphanage. As he spends time in the cider house, he begins to learn about life and love. Meanwhile, the question remains: what is Dr. Larch's plan for Homer's future?
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 220+ 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 Lisa Zeno ChurginShot by Oliver StapletonScored by Rachel PortmanDesigned by David GropmanSound by Bob ChefalasCostumes by Elizabeth SheltonStunts by Charles CroughwellVFX by Al Magliochetti
Box Office
1999 · Box office
✅ Made its money back — grossed 3.7× 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
$88.5M
US & Canada: $57.5M — 65% of worldwide · International: $31.0M (35%)
Opening weekend: $110K — 0% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.
Opening week (7-day): $159K — 0% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 8 theaters
Also known as
- Gottes Werk & Teufels Beitragde
- Gottes Werk und Teufels Beitragde
- L'Œuvre de Dieu, la part du Diablefr
- Le regole della casa del sidroit
- (Bulgarian)Правилата на дома
- (Bulgarian)Правилата на живота
Release dates around the world4 countries · showhide
- ItalySep 7, 1999
- CanadaSep 12, 1999
- United StatesOct 1, 1999
- TaiwanNov 21, 1999
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Cast & Crew
220 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Tobey Maguire
as Homer Wells
Charlize Theron
as Candy Kendall
Michael Caine
as Dr. Wilbur Larch
Delroy Lindo
as Mr. Rose
Paul Rudd
as Wally Worthington
Jane Alexander
as Nurse Edna
Kathy Baker
as Nurse Angela
Erykah Badu
as Rose Rose
Kieran Culkin
as Buster
Kate Nelligan
as Olive Worthington
Heavy D
as Peaches
K Todd Freeman
as Muddy
Supporting cast
25Paz De La Huerta
as Mary Agnes
J K Simmons
as Ray Kendall
Evan Parke
as Jack
Jimmy Flynn
as Vernon
Lonnie Farmer
as Hero
Erik Per Sullivan
as Fuzzy
Spencer Diamond
as Curly
Sean Andrew
as Copperfield
John Albano
as Steerforth
Skye Mccole Bartusiak
as Hazel
Clare Daly
as Clara
Colin Irving
as Major Winslow
Annie Corley
as Carla
Patrick Donnelly
as Adopting Father
Edie Schechter
as Adopting Mother
Kasey Berry
as 12yr. Old Girl
Mary Bogue
as Big Dot
Victoria Stankiewicz
as Debra
Christine Stevens
as Florence
Earle C Batchelder
as Dr. Holtz
Norma Fine
as Mrs. Goodhall
John Irving
as Stationmaster
Eric Bruno Borgman
as Flirting Soldier on Train
Kevin Chapman
as Adopting Dad
John H Tobin
as Man on Train
Directors
1Writers
1Producers
10Alan C Blomquist
co-producer
Bob Weinstein
executive producer
Bobby Cohen
Producers, executive producer
Harvey Weinstein
executive producer
Leslie Holleran
co-producer
Lila Yacoub
associate producer
Meryl
Producers, executive producer
Michele Platt
associate producer
Rachel Portman
orchestrator / score producer
Richard N Gladstein
Producer, Producers
Other crew
176Brandon Hollyer
accounting clerk
Gretchen Schlottman
additional costumer
Lisa Lesniak
additional costumer
Susan Anderson
additional costumer
Andrew Mondshein
additional editor (uncredited)
Marleen Alter
additional makeup artist (uncredited)
Trish Seeney
additional makeup artist (uncredited)
David Boulton
adr mixer
David H Kramer
adr voice casting (uncredited)
Paul Wagtouicz
apprentice editor
Terel Gibson
apprentice editor
Beth A Rubino
as Beth Rubino
Parents Guide
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