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Birdy (film)

Birdy
Birdy ver1.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Alan Parker
Produced by Alan Marshall
Screenplay by
  • Sandy Kroopf
  • Jack Behr
Based on Birdy
by William Wharton
Starring
Music by Peter Gabriel
Cinematography Michael Seresin
Edited by Gerry Hambling
Production
company
A&M Films
Distributed by Tri-Star Pictures
Release date
  • December 21, 1984 (1984-12-21) (United States)
Running time
120 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $12 million
Box office $1.4 million

Birdy is a 1984 American drama film and adaptation of William Wharton's 1978 novel of the same name. Directed by Alan Parker, the film stars Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage. The film focuses on the friendship between Birdy (Modine) and Al Columbato (Cage), two teenage boys living in a working-class neighborhood in 1960s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The story is told in flashbacks, with a frame story depicting their traumatic experiences upon serving in the Vietnam War.

Parker initially turned down an opportunity to helm a film adaptation, believing that the complex novel could not be made into a feature film. The project resurfaced in 1982 when A&M Films, a newly established film division of A&M Records, acquired the film rights and commissioned Sandy Kroopf and Jack Behr to write the script. Upon reading the script, Parker returned as the film's director, and the project continued development at Tri-Star Pictures. The film's principal photography began in May 1984 and concluded in August of that year. Filming took place on locations in Philadelphia and Santa Clara, California. Birdy is notable for being the first film to be partially shot with the Skycam, a computer-controlled camera system created by Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown. The film's score was composed by Peter Gabriel.

Tri-Star Pictures intended to give Birdy a platform release which involved opening the film in select cities before expanding distribution in the following weeks. Although it received mostly positive reviews, the film's failure to garner any award nominations resulted in Tri-Star cancelling a wide release scheduled for late January 1985. Birdy was a box office bomb, grossing only $1.4 million against a budget of $12 million. Following its release, the film won the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury prize at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.


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