Cast Away

Cast Away is a 2000 American survival drama film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis, written by William Broyles Jr. and starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, and Nick Searcy. Hanks plays a FedEx troubleshooter who is stranded on a deserted island after his plane crashes in the South Pacific, and the plot focuses on his desperate attempts to survive and return home. Filming took place from January to March 1999, and April to May 2000.

Cast Away was released on December 22, 2000, by 20th Century Fox in the United States and Canada and by DreamWorks Pictures in other territories. It grossed $429.6 million worldwide, making it the third-highest-grossing film of 2000. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the screenplay and Hanks's performance. Hanks won Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama at the 58th Golden Globe Awards and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the 73rd Academy Awards for Cast Away.<ref name="nytimes.com">Template:Cite news</ref>

Plot

In December 1995, Chuck Noland is a FedEx systems analyst who travels the world resolving productivity problems. He lives with his girlfriend, Kelly Frears in Memphis, Tennessee. The two talk of getting married but keep experiencing setbacks because Chuck is constantly called away to work, which starts to put a strain on their relationship. During a Christmas dinner, Chuck experiences pain due to an infected tooth, just before he is summoned to resolve a FedEx problem in Malaysia. Before leaving, Kelly gives Chuck her grandfather's pocket watch with a photo of her in it. He gives her a small box, saying she can wait to open it on New Year's Eve when he returns, implying it is an engagement ring.

The FedEx cargo plane Chuck boards crashes into the Pacific Ocean during a violent storm, leaving him as the only survivor. Washing ashore on a deserted island, Chuck explores the area, discovering several FedEx packages washing up on the coast, as well as the body of one of the pilots, Albert Miller, which he buries. In the following days, Chuck struggles to locate food and water. After seeing a ship on the horizon, he unsuccessfully tries to escape the island on a life raft, but is prevented by the tide and injures his leg. Realizing it is unlikely he will be rescued, Chuck opens most of the packages, finding items he uses to improve his living conditions. However, he does not open a package with golden angel wings painted on it, thinking the wings have symbolic meaning. While attempting to start a fire, Chuck cuts his hand and furiously throws several objects including a Wilson volleyball, leaving a bloodstained hand print. He draws a face into the blood, names the ball Wilson and begins talking to it. Chuck realizes the chances of his rescue are low because of the wide search area. Due to severe pain from his infected tooth, he performs his own tooth extraction using a rock and an ice skate. The extraction is successful, but he passes out from the pain.

Four years later, Chuck, now bearded and disheveled, has adapted to life alone on the island. After a section of a portable toilet enclosure washes up, he begins constructing a raft, which he successfully launches past the surf with Wilson, the unopened FedEx package and his belongings in tow. Chuck survives a storm, but afterward, Wilson falls off the raft and floats away. He unsuccessfully attempts to rescue Wilson and is left to grieve his loss. Soon after, he is rescued by a passing cargo ship.

Four weeks later, Chuck returns to the mainland, where he learns he was presumed dead by his family and friends. As he is given a hero's welcome at the FedEx headquarters in Memphis, he meets his dentist Jerry Lovett, whom he discovers has married and had a daughter with Kelly. At a homecoming party in Chuck's hotel room, Kelly is emotionally unable to greet him. Later that night, Chuck visits Kelly, where they bond for the last time; the two share a passionate kiss and confess their love for each other. Both realize she cannot leave her family and they part ways. Chuck returns the pocket watch Kelly gave him and she returns his Jeep Cherokee, which she had kept after his disappearance.

Chuck drives to Texas to return the angel-winged package to the address of the sender. Finding no one home, he leaves it at the door with a note saying the package saved his life. He departs in his vehicle and stops at a crossroads. A woman in a pickup truck, headed in the direction of the house, stops and gives information about where each road leads. As she drives away, Chuck notices the same angel wings painted on the tailgate of her truck. He looks down each road, trying to decide which way to go, and smiles when he faces the road taken by the truck.

Production

Development

In a 2017 Actor Roundtable with The Hollywood Reporter, Tom Hanks stated<ref name=HR>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Blockquote

Filming

The island of Monuriki

The film was not shot chronologically. It began on January 18, 1999, before halting two months later. Filming resumed on April 3, 2000, and finished the following month. Hanks gained Template:Convert during pre-production to make his physical transformation more dramatic. After most of the film was shot, production was paused so he could lose the weight and grow his hair and beard to look like he had been living on the island for years. Another four-month production halt preceded the filming of the return scenes. During the year-long hiatus, Zemeckis used the same film crew to make another film, What Lies Beneath.<ref name="nytimes.com"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While the film was in production, Hanks nearly died when he suffered an infected cut on his leg. He was rushed to a local hospital to undergo surgery and stayed there for three days. Filming of Cast Away was suspended for three weeks to allow Hanks to recover from the injury.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Filming lasted for sixteen months.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Cast Away was filmed on Monuriki, one of the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It is in a subgroup of the Mamanuca archipelago, which is sited off the coast of Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. The island became a tourist attraction after the film's release. After Chuck's return, it is identified by Kelly as being "about Template:Convert south of the Cook Islands," but there is no land between the southernmost Cook Islands of Mangaia and Antarctica.Template:Citation needed

The film begins and ends in the same location, on the Arrington Ranch in the Texas Panhandle south of the city of Canadian, Texas.<ref name="Cyclone">Template:Cite news</ref>

Music

The film's minimal score was composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri for which he won a Grammy Award in 2002. The film's soundtrack is most notable for its lack of score and creature sound effects (such as bird song or insect sounds) while Chuck is on the island, which is intended to reinforce the feeling of isolation.<ref>Cast Away DVD director's commentary</ref> Cast Away contains no original musical score until Chuck escapes the island. However, there is a Russian choral piece heard near the start of the film that was not composed or even recorded by Silvestri, so it does not appear on the film's soundtrack list. It is a traditional Russian song written by Lev Knipper called "Oh, My Field" ("Polyushko, Polye") and it is available on various collections of Red Army hymns.

The official soundtrack CD is an anthology of musical pieces from all the films up to that point that were directed by Zemeckis and scored by Silvestri. The only track from Cast Away itself is the theme from the end credits.<ref name="am">Template:Cite web</ref> The album was released in 2001 by soundtrack specialty label Varèse Sarabande, rather than by Fox Music or DreamWorks Records, which were the in-house labels of 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Pictures.<ref name="am"/>

The soundtrack featured in Cast Away consists of 10 tracks, with performers including Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Charles Brown.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

FedEx

FedEx provided access to their facilities (Memphis, Los Angeles, and Moscow) as well as airplanes, trucks, uniforms, and logistical support. A team of FedEx marketers oversaw production through more than two years of filming.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> FedEx CEO Fred Smith made an appearance as himself for the scene where Chuck is welcomed back, which was filmed on location at FedEx's home facilities in Memphis, Tennessee. The idea of a story based on a FedEx plane crashing gave the company "a heart attack at first", but the overall story was seen as positive. FedEx, which paid no money for product placement in the film,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> saw an increase in brand awareness in Asia and Europe following the film's release.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Wilson the volleyball

File:Wilson The Volleyball.jpg

Wilson the volleyball

In the film, Wilson the volleyball serves as Chuck Noland's personified friend and only companion during the four years that Noland spends alone on a deserted island.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="BLFJ">Template:Cite web</ref> Named after the volleyball's manufacturer, Wilson Sporting Goods, the character was created by screenwriter William Broyles Jr. While researching for the film, he consulted with professional survival experts, and then chose to deliberately strand himself for one week on an isolated beach in the Gulf of California, to force himself to search for water and food, and obtain his own shelter. During this time, a Wilson-branded soccer ball washed up on shore, providing the inspiration for the film's inanimate companion. When the idea was presented to Tom Hanks, he happily agreed on the volleyball as a memento to his wife, Rita Wilson, knowing he would be away from home for a long period for filming.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> From a screenwriting point of view, Wilson also serves to realistically allow dialogue to take place in a solitary scenario.<ref name="hepola">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=latimes>Template:Cite news</ref>

It is rumored, but not confirmed,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> that one of the original volleyball props was sold at auction for $18,500 to the ex-CEO of FedEx Office, Ken May. At the time of the film's release, Wilson launched its own joint promotion centered on its products "co-starring" with Tom Hanks. Wilson manufactured a volleyball with a reproduction of the bloodied handprint face on one side. It was sold for a limited time during the film's initial release and continues to be offered on the company's website.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> An original Wilson the volleyball prop sold via Heritage Auctions on December 7, 2024, for $162,500.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Reception

Box office

Cast Away opened in 2,774 theaters in North America and grossed $28.9 million (an average of $10,412 per theater) in its opening weekend.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> For the four-day Christmas long holiday weekend, it took in a total of $39.9 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At that point, it had the highest Christmas opening weekend of any film, surpassing Patch Adams.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref> Upon opening, Cast Away reached the number one spot at the box office, beating another Helen Hunt film, What Women Want. It would also compete against How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which was released the previous month.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref> With a total gross of $8.5 million, Cast Away held the record for having the biggest New Year's Eve gross until Meet the Fockers took it in 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film remained at the top of the box office for three weeks until it was overtaken by Save the Last Dance.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref> Cast Away kept performing well and ended up earning $233.6 million domestically and $196 million internationally, for a total of $429.6 million, against its production budget of $90 million. It became the third-highest-grossing film of 2000, behind Mission: Impossible 2 and Gladiator.<ref name=mojo/>

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, Cast Away holds an approval rating of 88% based on 156 reviews, with an average rating of 7.40/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Flawed but fascinating, Cast Away offers an intelligent script, some of Robert Zemeckis' most mature directing, and a showcase performance from Tom Hanks."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100 based on reviews from 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four. In his review, he praised Hanks for doing "a superb job of carrying Cast Away all by himself for about two-thirds of its running time" by "never straining for effect, always persuasive even in this unlikely situation, winning our sympathy with his eyes and his body language when there's no one else on the screen." However, he also mentioned how he felt that the film is "a strong and simple story surrounded by needless complications, and flawed by a last act that disappoints us and then ends on a note of forced whimsy."<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

In an article on its website, Rotten Tomatoes ranked Cast Away as the 23rd best film of 2000, based on its audience and critic scores.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2024, CBR ranked it fifth on a list of the "10 Best Live-Action DreamWorks Movies of All Time".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2025, it was one of the films voted for the "Readers' Choice" edition of The New York TimesTemplate:' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 291.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Accolades

Organizations	Category	Nominee	Result
2001 Academy Awards<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Best Actor	Tom Hanks	Template:Nom
	Best Sound	Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis S. Sands and William B. Kaplan	Template:Nom
2001 BAFTA Awards<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Best Film Actor in a Leading Role	Tom Hanks	Template:Nom
2001 Critics' Choice Awards<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Best Inanimate Object	Wilson	Template:Won
2001 Golden Globe Awards<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama	Tom Hanks	Template:Won
2001 MTV Movie Awards	Best Action Sequence in a Movie	Plane crash	Template:Nom
	Best Kiss in a Movie	Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt	Template:Nom
	Best On-Screen Duo or Team in a Movie	Tom Hanks and Wilson	Template:Nom
	Best Performance in a Movie	Tom Hanks	Template:Nom
2001 Screen Actors Guild Awards<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture	Tom Hanks	Template:Nom
2002 Grammy Awards	Best Instrumental Composition	Alan Silvestri (for "Cast Away End Credits")	Template:Won

Home media

In North America (Region 1), Cast Away was released on VHS and DVD on June 12, 2001, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The DVD version of the film is a THX certified two-disc Special Edition release that features a DTS 6.1 ES audio track and several bonus features, including galleries, special effects vignettes, audio commentary, trailers, TV spots, behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, featurettes and more.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It became the fastest-selling DVD release in 20th Century Fox history, selling 1.8 million copies and surpassing X-Men. Additionally, the film generated $5.5 million in rentals, which broke TrafficTemplate:'s record for having the highest DVD rentals.<ref name="WashesRecord">Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref> Cast Away went on to hold this record until 2002 when it was taken by The Fast and the Furious.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref> In total, the film made $57 million in home video sales and $20.6 million in home video rentals during its first week of release.<ref name="WashesRecord" /> It had the second-highest first week home video rentals of any film, behind Meet the Parents, as well as third-highest rentals overall, after the latter film and The Sixth Sense.<ref name="WashesRecord" /> In Region 2 and Region 4 areas such as Australia, the United Kingdom and Europe, the initial home video releases were handled by DreamWorks Home Entertainment rather than 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The international prints also featured the 1997 DreamWorks Pictures opening logo, while North American prints featured the 1994 20th Century Fox opening logo. In South Korea (Region 3), the film was released on DVD on April 20, 2002, by CJ Entertainment.<ref>https://www.yesasia.com/global/cast-away-korean-version/1001831602-0-0-0-en/info.html</ref> CJ Entertainment had also handled the South Korean theatrical distribution for Cast Away and other DreamWorks films such as American Beauty and Gladiator.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In North America, a single-disc DVD version of the film was released alongside the Fox film Independence Day on May 21, 2002.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref>

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray in North America on December 4, 2007.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Rights and streaming

In February 2006, Viacom (now known as Paramount Skydance) acquired the international rights to Cast Away, along with the rights to all other 58 live-action films DreamWorks had released since 1997, following its $1.6 billion acquisition of the company's live-action assets.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During this period, DreamWorks' live-action studio functioned as a semi-autonomous label of Viacom's Paramount Pictures, with Paramount handling distribution for the studio's new releases. In March 2006, shortly after the acquisition, Viacom sold the DreamWorks live-action film library, including the international rights of Cast Away, to Soros Strategic Partners (led by investor George Soros) and Dune Capital Management. This was done to help Viacom finance the acquisition of DreamWorks' live-action studio, as the film library alone was valued at $900 million. Soros and his associates temporarily took a majority 51% ownership stake in the library, while Viacom retained a minority 49% stake, with Paramount Pictures being given exclusive distribution rights under a five-year agreement, which could renew if Soros continued to hold a majority stake in the assets.<ref name="dead">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2008, DreamWorks separated from Viacom to become independent again, partnering with Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, but Paramount Pictures retained distribution rights to the live-action DreamWorks library, including Cast Away's international components, which was still technically controlled by Soros.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In February 2010, Viacom exercised its option to buy back Soros's 51% stake in the library for $400 million, regaining full control over the assets.<ref name="dead"/><ref name="bloom"/> Paramount Pictures continues to hold the rights to the Soros/Dune-acquired films, including ongoing distribution.<ref name="bloom">Template:Cite web</ref> Paramount Home Entertainment did not release Cast Away on Blu-ray internationally until 2012, possibly due to complications with Soros and Fox.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Prior to regaining full control of the DreamWorks library in 2010, Paramount had already released other live-action DreamWorks films on home video.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In March 2019, the film's domestic rights transferred to The Walt Disney Company, after Rupert Murdoch sold most of 21st Century Fox's film and television assets to Disney.<ref name="ins">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film has since been made available to stream on Paramount+ in international markets such as Scandinavia and the British Isles,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>https://www.paramountplus.com/ie/movies/video/9C9RylHFM3IwxMeU3cCeZ3GFoZ3xFlRq/</ref> and was also on the streaming service for the Paramount-owned Australian broadcaster Network 10.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In North America, the film has not been made available on Disney+, instead streaming on Hulu (one of the additional assets Disney acquired from Fox in 2019).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2024, it was reported that Disney were preventing the release of 4K masters for Cast Away and other Fox catalog titles like Die Hard 2 and The French Connection. However, an international 4K release may still possibly occur through Paramount's joint ownership of the film.<ref name="ins"/>

In popular culture

A FedEx commercial during Super Bowl XXXVII parodied the final scene of the film, in which Chuck Noland returns a package to its sender. In this version, the woman answers the door, and when Noland asks what was in the box, the woman replies, "Just a satellite phone, GPS locator, fishing rod, water purifier, and some seeds. Just silly stuff."<ref name="CNNMoney">Template:Cite web</ref>

Media executive Lloyd Braun of ABC first suggested the idea of a Cast Away–type television series at a dinner party in 2003.<ref name="chicagomag.com">Template:Cite news</ref> Thom Sherman later pitched the idea for Cast Away – The Series, but never developed the idea.<ref name="chicagomag.com" /> The concept was later developed and pitched with the title Nowhere, which later turned into the ABC show Lost.<ref name="chicagomag.com" />

The second episode of the seventh season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, "The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore", refers to a Cast Away scene. When Frank loses his "rum ham" while floating on a raft in the Atlantic Ocean, his anguish resembles that of Tom Hanks' character losing Wilson the volleyball.<ref>Template:CitationTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

On December 31, 2002, at Madison Square Garden, Phish played a clip from the film on the jumbotron to introduce their song "Wilson" during their concert. They later introduced "Tom Hanks" during the song onstage, but it was later revealed to be keyboardist Page McConnell's brother Steve.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On April 15, 2022, at Progressive Field, Tom Hanks threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Cleveland Guardians home opener, accompanied by a replica of Wilson from the movie.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced with a Wilson replica in his car to two victories in fall 2001 at Dover and Talladega. This was due to a joke on the radio that he felt lonely in the car during a race.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In a 2001 episode of The King of Queens, Doug Heffernan (Kevin James) is interviewed for a job at FedEx. He references Cast Away when he sees a model of a FedEx plane on his interviewer's desk and jokingly imitates the crash scene. <ref>https://subslikescript.com/series/The_King_of_Queens-165581/season-3/episode-19-Package_Deal</ref>

In the 2005 animated film Madagascar, Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller) reacts to being stranded on the titular island in a similar way to Chuck, including talking to an inanimate basketball that he refers to as "Spalding."

External links

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