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Original Theatrical Trailer

The Last Samurai(2003)
Released
2003 · FILM

The Last Samurai

A haunted former U.S. Army captain takes a lucrative contract to train Japan’s fledgling Imperial army, only to confront a fierce samurai uprising that forces him to battle both the rebels and his own violent past.

“In the face of an enemy, in the heart of one man, lies the soul of a warrior.”

Directed by
Edward Zwick, Drew Bailey
Written by
John Logan, Edward Zwick
Rated
MPA · R
Runtime
154 min
ActionDrama
Streaming on
  • Paramount+

Synopsis

Nathan Algren is an American who is hired to instruct the Japanese army in modern warfare. During his time there, he comes to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that guide them. As he is pressured to help destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and fight for their right to exist.

Credits

Actors
Editor
Production Designer
Director of Photography
Writers
Directors

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

A crew of 286+ 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 Victor Du BoisShot by John TollScored by Hans ZimmerDesigned by Lilly KilvertSound by Anna BehlmerCostumes by Ngila DicksonVFX by Craig Barron

Box Office

2003 · Box office

✅ Made its money back — grossed 3.3× 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

$456.8M

Budget$140.0M
Worldwide gross$456.8M
break-even (2.5×)

US & Canada: $111.1M — 24% of worldwide · International: $345.7M (76%)

Opening weekend: $24.3M — 22% of its US run.

Opening week (7-day): $32.8M — 30% of its US & Canada run.

Peak 2,908 theaters

Full synopsis

Also known as

  • Last Samuraide
  • El último Samuráies
  • Le Dernier Samouraïfr
  • L'ultimo samuraiit
  • (Bulgarian)Последният самурай
Release dates around the world3 countries · show
  • JapanNov 22, 2003
  • United StatesDec 1, 2003
  • CanadaDec 5, 2003

Companies

ProductionWarner Bros., Radar Pictures, The Bedford Falls Company

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