Tombstone | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | George P. Cosmatos |
Produced by |
James Jacks Sean Daniel Bob Misiorowski |
Written by | Kevin Jarre |
Starring | |
Narrated by | Robert Mitchum |
Music by | Bruce Broughton |
Cinematography | William A. Fraker |
Edited by |
Frank J. Urioste Roberto Silvi Harvey Rosenstock |
Production
company |
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Distributed by |
Buena Vista Pictures (US) Entertainment Film Distributors (UK) |
Release date
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Running time
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130 minutes 134 minutes (Director's cut) |
Language | English |
Budget | $25 million |
Box office | $56,505,065 |
Tombstone is a 1993 American Western film directed by George P. Cosmatos, written by Kevin Jarre (who was also the original director, but was replaced early in production) and starring Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer, with Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, and Dana Delany in supporting roles, as well as a narration by Robert Mitchum.
The film is based on events in Tombstone, Arizona, including the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and the Earp Vendetta Ride, during the 1880s. It depicts a number of western outlaws and lawmen, such as Wyatt Earp, William Brocius, Johnny Ringo, and Doc Holliday.
Tombstone was released by Hollywood Pictures in theatrical wide release in the United States on December 24, 1993, grossing $56.5 million in domestic ticket sales. The film was a financial success, and for the Western genre it ranks number 14 in the list of highest-grossing films since 1979. Critical reception was generally positive, but the film failed to garner award nominations for production merits or acting from any mainstream motion picture organizations.
The film opens with a brief prologue about the film's setting: the old west and the town of Tombstone, Arizona in the year 1879. After the prologue, members of the outlaw gang known as the Cochise County Cowboys, led by William "Curly Bill" Brocius, ride into a Mexican town and interrupt a local police officer's wedding. They then proceed to massacre the assembled policemen in retribution for killing two of their fellow gang members. Shortly before being shot in cold blood, a local priest warns them that their acts of murder and savagery will be avenged, referencing the biblical fourth horseman.