The Ghost and the Darkness
Engineer John Henry Patterson must halt a pair of relentless man‑eating lions terrorizing his crew, or the Uganda‑Mombasa railway—and countless lives—will be doomed.
“Prey For The Hunters”
Synopsis
Sir Robert Beaumont is behind schedule on a railroad project in Africa. To address the delays, he enlists the expertise of noted engineer John Henry Patterson. Initially, progress appears to be on track, but the situation turns dire when the crew discovers the mutilated body of the project's foreman, apparently killed by a lion. As more attacks occur, Patterson brings in renowned hunter Charles Remington, who soon realizes he is facing a particularly dangerous and relentless group of lions.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 191+ 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 Roger BondelliShot by Vilmos ZsigmondScored by Jerry GoldsmithDesigned by Stuart WurtzelSound by Lance BrownCostumes by Ellen MirojnickStunts by Danny Baldwin
Box Office
1996 · Box office
📉 Underperformed — grossed 0.8× 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
$38.6M
Opening weekend: $12.7M — 33% of its US run.
Opening week (7-day): $12.7M — 33% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 2,142 theaters
Also known as
- Der Geist und die Dunkelheitde
- L'Ombre et la Proiefr
- Spiriti nelle tenebreit
- (Bulgarian)Призракът и мрака
Release dates around the world4 countries · showhide
- United StatesOct 3, 1996
- South KoreaNov 16, 1996
- Hong Kong SAR ChinaNov 28, 1996
- ItalyDec 20, 1996
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Cast & Crew
191 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Michael Douglas
as Charles Remington
Val Kilmer
as Col. John Henry Patterson
Tom Wilkinson
as Robert Beaumont
John Kani
as Samuel
Bernard Hill
as Dr. David Hawthorne
Brian Mccardie
as Angus Starling
Emily Mortimer
as Helena Patterson
Om Puri
as Abdullah
Henry Cele
as Mahina
Kurt Egelhof
as Indian Victim
Satchu Annamalai
as Worker #1
Teddy Reddy
as Worker #2
Supporting cast
16Raheem Khan
as Worker #3
Jack Devnarain
as Nervous Sikh Orderly
Glen Gabela
as Orderly #1
Richard Nwamba
as Orderly #2
Nick Lorentz
as Photographer
Alex Ferns
as Nigel Bransford
Kaycey Padayachee
as Beaumont's Valet
Giles Masters
as Beaumont's Clerk
Patrick Gifford
as Patterson's Son
Justin Gifford
as Patterson's Son
George Middlekoop
as Station Master
Bongo
as Lion
Caesar
as Lion
Stephen Evans
as Soldier
Kavi Raz
as VO
Sudan
as Sudan The Lion
Directors
1Writers
2Producers
6Other crew
159Marc Deschaine
adr assistant
Joe Dorn
adr editor
Barbara Harris
adr voice casting
Emile De Kock
animal wrangler: domestic animals
Dave Evans
armorer: preparation
Giles Masters
Art Directors
Malcolm Stone
Art Directors
Zack Grobler
Art Directors, art director: second unit
Joanne Goldstone
assistant accountant
Anthony Boswell
assistant animal handler
Monique Angeon
assistant animal handler: lions
Michael Dennison
assistant costume designer
Parents Guide
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