Saving Private Ryan Case study

Director  - Steven Spielberg

Writer – Robert Rodat

Cast – Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Matt Damon

Genre - Action, Drama, History and War

Release Date – July 24, 1998

Budget - $70 million

Revenue - $481 million

Inspiration – the writer Robert Rodat was inspired to create the film when he came across a monument dedicated to four brothers who had died during the American civil war, he decided however to base his idea around the Normandy landings in the second world war. The reason he chose this setting was because his son's birthday (June 6) shared the same date as the Battle of Normandy, and thus this was further inspiration for him.

·         The film was directed by the already respected Steven Spielberg, who had notable success with films based within the world war, such as schindlers list and empire of the sun ect.  Thus due to his creditability any possible investors would immediately be struck by the great potential for a successful film.

·         The main star within the film was the actor Tom Hanks, who was a well respected actor due to his performances in films such as Forrest Gump and big, which had won him a fine string of accolades. Much like having Steven Spielberg directing the film, the thought of having such a popular actor playing the lead role would generate revenue in itself, as people will always pay to see his films, which in turn gives the producer a greater chance of making a profit. Tom Sizemore was enrolled to play the role of the films “tough guy”, which due to his roles in films such as “heat”, he was perfect for, and just his reputation alone would help him portray the character.

·         Another key selling point was that there had not been a truly successful war film for some time, and as Spielberg had the intention of making the film as realistic as possible, the film had the capability to generate a large audience base, especially as it was recommended by true veterans from the war, who claimed it was as close to the real thing you could possibly get. This would attract attention from people keen to see what the conditions of the war would actually have been like.