Philadelphia (film)

Philadelphia
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jonathan Demme
Written by	Ron Nyswaner
Produced by	Jonathan Demme Edward Saxon
Starring	Tom Hanks Denzel Washington Jason Robards Mary Steenburgen Antonio Banderas
Cinematography	Tak Fujimoto
Edited by	Craig McKay
Music by	Howard Shore
Production company	Clinica Estetico Productions
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release dates	December 14, 1993 (1993-12-14) (Los Angeles) December 22, 1993 (1993-12-22) (United States)
Running time	126 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$26 million
Box office	$206.7 million[1]

Philadelphia is a 1993 American legal drama film directed and produced by Jonathan Demme, written by Ron Nyswaner, and starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington.^[2] Filmed on location in its namesake city, it tells the story of attorney Andrew Beckett (Hanks) who comes to ask a personal injury attorney, Joe Miller (Washington), to help him sue his former employer, who fired him after discovering he was gay and that he had AIDS. The cast also features Jason Robards, Mary Steenburgen, Antonio Banderas, and Joanne Woodward.

Philadelphia is notable for being one of the first mainstream Hollywood films not only to explicitly address HIV/AIDS and homophobia, but also to portray gay people in a positive light. It premiered in Los Angeles on December 14, 1993 in a benefit for the AIDS Project, and opened in limited release on December 22, before expanding into wide release on January 14, 1994. It grossed $206.7 million worldwide, becoming the 9th highest-grossing film of 1993.^[3]

The film was positively received by critics for its screenplay and the performances of Hanks and Washington. For his performance as Andrew Beckett, Hanks won Best Actor at the 66th Academy Awards, while the song "Streets of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen won Best Original Song. Nyswaner was also nominated for the Best Original Screenplay, but lost to Jane Campion for The Piano.