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Released
1997 · FILM

Wag the Dog

A cunning political spin doctor teams with a flamboyant Hollywood producer to stage a fake war that will divert the nation’s attention from a presidential sex scandal, risking their own credibility as they battle media scrutiny and the thin line between illusion and reality.

“A comedy about truth, justice and other special effects.”

Directed by
Barry Levinson, Ken Arlidge
Written by
Larry Beinhart, Hilary Henkin
Rated
MPA · R
Runtime
97 min
ComedyDrama
Streaming on
  • Paramount+

Synopsis

In the final weeks of a presidential election, the sitting President faces allegations of sexual misconduct. To shift public attention before the election, the President's adviser enlists a Hollywood producer to create a staged war scenario.

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 268+ 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 Stu LinderShot by Robert RichardsonScored by Mark KnopflerDesigned by Wynn ThomasSound by Mark BurtonCostumes by Rita Ryack

Box Office

1997 · Box office

💰 Box-office hit — grossed 4.3× 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

$64.3M

Budget$15.0M
Worldwide gross$64.3M
break-even (2.5×)

US & Canada: $43.1M — 67% of worldwide · International: $21.2M (33%)

Opening weekend: $92K — 0% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.

Peak 3 theaters

Also known as

  • Wag The Dog - Wenn der Hund mit dem Schwanz wedeltde
  • Wag the Dog – Wenn der Schwanz mit dem Hund wedeltde
  • Des hommes d'influencefr
  • Sesso & potereit
  • (Bulgarian)Да разлаем кучетата
Release dates around the world3 countries · show
  • United StatesDec 17, 1997
  • GermanyFeb 20, 1998
  • PortugalFeb 28, 1998

Companies

ProductionBaltimore Pictures, New Line Cinema, Punch Productions

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