The Hours (film)
The Hours is a 2002 psychological drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman. Supporting roles are played by Ed Harris, John C. Reilly, Stephen Dillane, Jeff Daniels, Miranda Richardson, Allison Janney, Toni Collette, Claire Danes, and Eileen Atkins. The screenplay by David Hare is based on Michael Cunningham's 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name.
The Hours
Scott Rudin Productions
- Paramount Pictures
(North America) - Miramax International
(international, through Buena Vista International)[note 1]
- December 25, 2002 (United States)
114 minutes[1]
- United States
- United Kingdom[2]
English
$25 million
$108.8 million
The film was theatrically released in Los Angeles and New York City on Christmas Day 2002, and was given a limited release in the United States two days later on December 27 before expanding in January 2003. Critical reaction to the film was positive, with nine Academy Award nominations for The Hours including Best Picture, and a win for Nicole Kidman for Best Actress. The film and novel were adapted into an opera with the same name in 2022.
Premise[edit]
Three lives are connected by Virginia Woolf's 1925 novel Mrs Dalloway. In 2001, Clarissa Vaughan (Streep), a New Yorker prepares an award party for her AIDS-stricken long-time friend and poet, Richard (Harris). In 1951, Laura Brown (Moore) is a pregnant California housewife with a young son, currently in an unhappy marriage. In 1920s England, Woolf (Kidman) battles with depression while struggling to finish the work.
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
The Hours opened in New York City and Los Angeles on Christmas Day 2002 and went into limited release in the United States and Canada two days later. It grossed $1,070,856 on eleven screens in its first two weeks of release. On January 10, 2003, it expanded to 45 screens, and the following week it expanded to 402. On February 14 it went into wide release, playing in 1,003 theaters in the US and Canada.[3] With an estimated budget of $25 million, the film eventually earned $41,675,994 in the US and Canada and $67,170,078 in foreign markets for a total worldwide box office of $108,846,072. It was the 47th highest-grossing film of 2002.[3]