Twenty-five years ago, The Shawshank Redemption finished as a first-run failure that seemed sentenced to obscurity. But then Frank Darabont’s stirring cellblock epic found an unlikely reprieve and followed an unexpected escape route that led to cinema glory.
Today, Shawshank is widely hailed as a classic. The Library of Congress has added the film to the National Registry, and it’s entrenched at No. 1 on IMDb’s ranking of its users’ favorite films of all time, topping The Godfather. That wasn’t the case, however, in the waning days of 1994, when the film finished 51st in the year-end box office results, an anemic showing that put it behind Richie Rich, Blank Check and A Low Down Dirty Shame.
The Castle Rock Entertainment/Columbia Pictures release from first-time director Darabont had opened wide in mid-October with dismal numbers (it finished the weekend in ninth place despite 944 screens) and finished its...
Today, Shawshank is widely hailed as a classic. The Library of Congress has added the film to the National Registry, and it’s entrenched at No. 1 on IMDb’s ranking of its users’ favorite films of all time, topping The Godfather. That wasn’t the case, however, in the waning days of 1994, when the film finished 51st in the year-end box office results, an anemic showing that put it behind Richie Rich, Blank Check and A Low Down Dirty Shame.
The Castle Rock Entertainment/Columbia Pictures release from first-time director Darabont had opened wide in mid-October with dismal numbers (it finished the weekend in ninth place despite 944 screens) and finished its...
- 12/28/2019
- by Geoff Boucher
- Deadline Film + TV
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