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Poster for The Killing Fields
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Released
1984 · FILM

The Killing Fields

A New York Times reporter and his Cambodian interpreter form an unlikely bond during the chaos of the Cambodian Civil War, but when the U.S. withdraws and the Khmer Rouge takes control, the journalist must risk everything to save the life of the man who helped him tell the story.

“Here, only the silent survive.”

Directed by
Roland Joffe
Written by
Bruce Robinson
Rated
MPA · R
Runtime
142 min
BiographyDramaHistory

Synopsis

Sydney Schanberg, a New York Times reporter, is covering the Cambodian Civil War with the assistance of local interpreter Dith Pran and American photojournalist Al Rockoff. As the U.S. Army withdraws amid increasing violence, Schanberg arranges for Pran and his family to leave the country. Pran, however, informs Schanberg that he plans to remain in Cambodia to continue reporting on the developing situation. His decision may prove costly as the Khmer Rouge rebels begin to take control.

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 Jim ClarkShot by Chris MengesScored by Mike OldfieldDesigned by Roy Walker

Box Office

1984 · Box office

⚖️ Fell short of break-even — grossed 2.4× 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

$34.7M

Budget$14.4M
Worldwide gross$34.7M
break-even (2.5×)

Also known as

  • The Killing Fields - Schreiendes Landde
  • La Déchirurefr
  • Urla del silenzioit

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