The River Wild
A determined mother fighting to protect her family on a celebratory white‑water rafting trip must outwit ruthless fugitives who hijack their journey and turn the river into a deadly battleground.
“The vacation is over.”
Synopsis
Gail and Tom Hartman, a couple facing marital difficulties, decide to take a white-water rafting trip in Montana to celebrate their son Roarke's 10th birthday. Their journey takes a dark turn when they encounter two enigmatic men whose increasing desperation transforms the family vacation into a dangerous and terrifying experience.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 186+ 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 David BrennerShot by Robert ElswitScored by Jerry GoldsmithDesigned by Bill KenneySound by Anna BehlmerCostumes by Marlene StewartVFX by Adam Howard
Box Office
1994 · Box office
⚖️ Fell short of break-even — grossed 2.1× 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
$94.2M
US & Canada: $46.8M — 50% of worldwide · International: $47.4M (50%)
Opening weekend: $10.2M — 22% of its US run.
Opening week (7-day): $13.2M — 28% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 2,074 theaters
Also known as
- Am wilden Flussde
- Am wilden Flußde
- Río salvajees
- La Rivière sauvagefr
- The River Wild - Il fiume della paurait
- (Bulgarian)Дивата река
Release dates around the world3 countries · showhide
- United StatesSep 19, 1994
- GreeceNov 1, 1994
- AustraliaNov 3, 1994
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Cast & Crew
186 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Meryl Streep
as Gail Hartman
Kevin Bacon
as Wade
David Strathairn
as Tom
Joseph Mazzello
as Roarke Hartman
Stephanie Sawyer
as Willa
Elizabeth Hoffman
as Gail's Mother
Victor Galloway
as Gail's Father
Diane Delano
as Ranger
Thomas F Duffy
as Ranger
John C Reilly
as Terry
William Lucking
as Frank
Benjamin Bratt
as Ranger Johnny
Supporting cast
2Directors
1Writers
3Producers
7Other crew
168Robert Clotworthy
additional adr voice
Scott Colomby
additional adr voice
Billy Bowles
additional adr voice (as Bill Bowles)
Paul C Babin
additional camera operator (as Paul Babin)
David Boulton
adr mixer
Saar Klein
apprentice editor
Mark W Mansbridge
as Mark Mansbridge
Rick Gentz
as Rick T. Gentz
Nina Corbett
assistant costume designer
Julie Monroe
assistant editor
Mark Livolsi
assistant editor
F Paul Benz
assistant editor (as Paul Benz)
Parents Guide
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Where to watch
Live · bot-verified- Paramount+Stream
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