The Skulls (film)
| The Skulls | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Rob Cohen |
| Produced by |
Neal H. Moritz John Pogue |
| Written by | John Pogue |
| Starring |
Joshua Jackson Paul Walker Craig T. Nelson Hill Harper Leslie Bibb Christopher McDonald Steve Harris William L. Petersen David Asman Scott Gibson Nigel Bennett |
| Music by | Randy Edelman |
| Cinematography | Shane Hurlbut |
| Edited by | Peter Amundson |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $35 million |
| Box office | $50.8 million |
The Skulls is a 2000 American psychological thriller film starring Joshua Jackson, Paul Walker and Leslie Bibb, directed by Rob Cohen. Its plot is based upon some of the conspiracy theories surrounding Yale University's Skull and Bones student society.
The film was critically panned, but successful enough to spawn two direct-to-video sequels, The Skulls II (2002) and The Skulls III (2004).
Luke McNamara (Joshua Jackson) is a student with aspirations to become a lawyer. A "townie" who grew up on the "wrong side of the tracks", he did well enough in school to attend college on a scholarship where he is a champion rower. His best friends at college are his love interest Chloe (Leslie Bibb), and Will (Hill Harper) who is the coxswain of the Bulldog 8's rowing team of which Luke is the captain (at the victory party for the 8's, Chloe is revealed to come from a wealthy family which is why Luke is reluctant to reveal his feelings for her). Luke's friendships hit the rocks when he is invited to join a secret society known as "The Skulls". After Luke passes the first part of the initiation process - theft from a rival frat together with boxing prodigy Caleb Mandrake (Paul Walker) as his co-conspirator and alleged "soulmate", and being lectured in the secret ritual room by a senior Skull that is standing in front of a wall with the word "WAR" engraved into it in huge capital letters. A senior Skull explains to Luke that the Skulls require their members to prove themselves in war. Luke has a falling out with Will when the latter realizes that Luke has become a Skull.
Luke quickly strikes up a friendship with his alleged soulmate. Caleb's father, Litten Mandrake (Craig T. Nelson), is the current Chairman of the Skulls and a Federal Court Judge who is pushing for a position in the Supreme Court, and his partner Senator Ames Levritt (William Petersen), takes an interest in Luke. Eventually Will, who has been conducting research on the Skulls for some time, discovers their secret ritual room. Will gets caught in the room by Caleb and in the ensuing struggle he falls and is knocked unconscious. Caleb is ordered to leave the room by his father, who then orders Skulls member and the University's provost Martin Lombard (Christopher McDonald) to break Will's neck. The Skulls manage to move the body and make it look like Will committed suicide in his dorm room by hanging himself.
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