War Horse (film)

War Horse
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Steven Spielberg
Produced by	Steven Spielberg Kathleen Kennedy
Screenplay by	Lee Hall Richard Curtis
Based on	War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
Starring	Jeremy Irvine Emily Watson David Thewlis Peter Mullan Niels Arestrup
Music by	John Williams
Cinematography	Janusz Kamiński
Edited by	Michael Kahn
Production company	DreamWorks Pictures Reliance Entertainment Amblin Entertainment The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Distributed by	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release date	December 25, 2011 (2011-12-25)
Running time	146 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$66 million
Box office	$177.6 million

War Horse is a 2011 British-American war drama film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay written by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis, adapted from English author Michael Morpurgo's 1982 novel of the same name. The film's cast includes Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Marsan, Niels Arestrup, Toby Kebbell, David Kross and Peter Mullan. Set before and during World War I, it tells of the journey of Joey, a bay Thoroughbred horse raised by British teenager Albert (Irvine), as he is bought by the British Army, leading him to encounter numerous individuals and owners throughout Europe, all the while experiencing the tragedies of the war happening around him.

DreamWorks Pictures acquired the film rights to the novel in December 2009, with Spielberg announced to direct the film in May 2010. Having directed many films set during the Second World War, it was his first film to tackle the events of World War I. Long-term Spielberg collaborators Janusz Kamiński, Michael Kahn, Rick Carter and John Williams all worked on the film as cinematographer, editor, production designer, and music composer, respectively.