The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American <a href="/facts/Prison_film/Rb6zCy1l">prison</a> <a href="/facts/Drama_(film_and_television)/K3GjTczf">drama film</a> written and directed by <a href="/facts/Frank_Darabont/N0PgSabn">Frank Darabont</a>, based on the 1982 <a href="/facts/Stephen_King/cxPru2vA">Stephen King</a> novella <a href="/facts/Rita_Hayworth_and_Shawshank_Redemption/XpFNdskd">Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption</a>. The film tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne (<a href="/facts/Tim_Robbins/Ef26Pm6c">Tim Robbins</a>), who is <a href="/facts/Life_imprisonment/IMr3MIwe">sentenced to life</a> in <a href="/facts/Shawshank_State_Prison/JfIB3SUa">
Shawshank State Penitentiary</a> for the murders of his wife and her lover, despite his claims of innocence. Over the following two decades, he befriends a fellow prisoner, contraband smuggler Ellis "Red" Redding (<a href="/facts/Morgan_Freeman/3lRKa6Nj">Morgan Freeman</a>), and becomes instrumental in a <a href="/facts/Money_laundering/98Gw3mgx">money laundering</a> operation led by the <a href="/facts/Prison_warden/QWsWuN56">prison warden</a> Samuel Norton (<a href="/facts/Bob_Gunton/Bm0B0Kse">Bob Gunton</a>). <a href="/facts/William_Sadler_(actor)/NqY4doDJ">William Sadler</a>, <a href="/facts/Clancy_Brown/D6vEqWMs">Clancy Brown</a>, <a href="/facts/Gil_Bellows/DJeH0wBM">Gil Bellows</a>, and <a href="/facts/James_Whitmore/Ir72ksRx">James Whitmore</a> appear in supporting roles.
Darabont purchased the film rights to King's story in 1987, but development did not begin until five years later, when he wrote the script over eight weeks. Two weeks after submitting his script to <a href="/facts/Castle_Rock_Entertainment/4K7cAFKW">Castle Rock Entertainment</a>, Darabont secured a $25 million budget to produce The Shawshank Redemption, which started pre-production in January 1993. While the film is set in <a href="/facts/Maine/7ww4UY8B">Maine</a>, <a href="/facts/Principal_photography/QuWTt1Wf">principal photography</a> took place from June to August 1993 almost entirely in <a href="/facts/Mansfield%2c_Ohio/CrAN7QLN">Mansfield, Ohio</a>, with the <a href="/facts/Ohio_State_Reformatory/r19t0rgb">Ohio State Reformatory</a> serving as the eponymous penitentiary. The project attracted many stars for the role of Andy, including <a href="/facts/Tom_Hanks/nb7oAej3">Tom Hanks</a>, <a href="/facts/Tom_Cruise/kBgAITKE">Tom Cruise</a>, and <a href="/facts/Kevin_Costner/dHEYj0Wl">Kevin Costner</a>. <a href="/facts/Thomas_Newman/XD04YaTG">Thomas Newman</a> provided the film's score.
While The Shawshank Redemption received critical acclaim upon its release—particularly for its story and the performances of Robbins and Freeman—it was a <a href="/facts/Box-office_bomb/30YnUj8p">box-office disappointment</a>, earning only $16 million during its initial theatrical run. Many factors were attributed to its failure at the time, including competition from the films <a href="/facts/Pulp_Fiction/4zLKyHTr">Pulp Fiction</a> and <a href="/facts/Forrest_Gump/ffJh8JTw">Forrest Gump</a>, the general unpopularity of <a href="/facts/Prison_film/Rb6zCy1l">prison films</a>, its lack of female characters, and even the title, which was considered confusing for audiences. It went on to receive multiple award nominations, including seven <a href="/facts/Academy_Awards/CwTxYuNQ">Academy Award</a> nominations, and a theatrical re-release that, combined with international takings, increased the film's box-office gross to $73.3 million.
Over 320,000 <a href="/facts/VHS/aN1lffdC">VHS</a> rental copies were shipped throughout the United States, and on the strength of its award nominations and <a href="/facts/Word_of_mouth/8KmsyB4g">word of mouth</a>, it became the top <a href="/facts/Video_rental/VpPAck1S">video rental</a> of 1995. The broadcast rights were acquired following the purchase of Castle Rock Entertainment by <a href="/facts/Turner_Broadcasting_System/c9jla2QY">Turner Broadcasting System</a>, and it was shown regularly on the <a href="/facts/TNT_(American_TV_network)/uW4vqKNk">TNT</a> network starting in 1997, further increasing its popularity. Decades after release, the film is still broadcast regularly, and is popular in several countries, with audience members and celebrities citing it as a source of inspiration or naming it a favorite in various surveys, leading to its recognition as one of the <a href="/facts/List_of_films_considered_the_best/pGV2gfUG">best-loved films by audiences</a>. In 2015, the United States <a href="/facts/Library_of_Congress/TfB6dEN5">Library of Congress</a> selected the film for preservation in the <a href="/facts/National_Film_Registry/HGoP1Mre">National Film Registry</a>, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

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The Shawshank Redemption