The Shawshank Redemption
Based on the 1982 Stephen King book Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, Frank Darabont wrote and directed the 1994 American prison drama picture The Shawshank Redemption. The movie centers on banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), who, in spite of his denials of guilt, is given a life sentence in Shawshank State Penitentiary for killing his wife and her lover. Over the next twenty years, he makes friends with fellow prisoner Ellis “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman), a drug dealer, and helps prison warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton) with a money laundering scheme. James Whitmore, Gil Bellows, William Sadler, and Clancy Brown all had supporting parts.
Although Darabont bought the film rights to King’s story in 1987, work on the script did not start until five years later, when he spent eight weeks writing it. The Shawshank Redemption began preproduction in January 1993, and two weeks after Darabont submitted his script to Castle Rock Entertainment, the studio was awarded a $25 million budget to produce the film. The film is set in Maine, but much of the principal photography was done in Mansfield, Ohio between June and August 1993. The Ohio State Reformatory was used as the film’s titular penitentiary. Stars such as Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, and Kevin Costner were drawn to the project to play Andy. The film’s score was composed by Thomas Newman.
The Shawshank Redemption was a box office bust, making just $16 million during its first theatrical run, despite garnering critical acclaim upon release—especially for its story, Robbins and Freeman’s performances, Newman’s score, Darabont’s direction and screenplay, and Roger Deakins’ cinematography. At the time, a number of factors were pointed up as to why it didn’t work, such as competition from the movies Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump, the general dislike of prison movies, the absence of any female characters, and even the title, which people thought was confusing. The movie went on to get numerous nominations for awards, including seven Academy Award nods, and a theatrical re-release that brought its box office total to $73.3 million when paired with international receipts.
More than 320,000 VHS rental copies were distributed across the US, and thanks to positive word-of-mouth and award nominations, it was the most popular video rental in 1995. After Turner Broadcasting System purchased Castle Rock, the broadcast rights were obtained. Its popularity was further increased when it began to air on the TNT network on a regular basis in 1997.
Years after its premiere, the movie is still screened frequently and is well-liked in many nations. Viewers and celebrities have recognized the movie as one of their favorites or as a source of inspiration, and it has been named one of the most “beloved” movies ever filmed in a number of polls. The movie was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the US Library of Congress, which decided to preserve it in the National Film Registry in 2015.
