Mighty Joe Young (1998 movie)
Mighty Joe Young is an 1998 adventure movie that was produced by Ted Hartley and Tom Jacobson and was directed by Ron Underwood. It is a remake of the 1949 movie, Mighty Joe Young. It stars Bill Paxton, Charlize Theron, and creature suit actor John Alexander as the title character. In this version, the ape is much larger than in the original. Mighty Joe Young was released on December 25, 1998 in North America. The movie received mixed reviews with a 54% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie turned out to be a box office bomb grossing $50,632,037 with a budget of $90,000,000.
| Mighty Joe Young | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ron Underwood |
| Produced by | Ted Hartley Tom Jacobson |
| Written by | Merian C. Cooper Ruth Rose Mark Rosenthal Lawrence Konner |
| Starring | Bill Paxton Charlize Theron John Alexander Rade Šerbedžija |
| Music by | James Horner |
| Cinematography | Donald Peterman |
| Edited by | Paul Hirsch |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
Release date | December 25, 1998 |
Running time | 114 mins. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $90 million |
| Box office | $50,632,037 |
Plot
A giant mountain gorilla named Joe is brought from his jungle habitat in Uganda to a wildlife preserve in Los Angeles by a young woman (Charlize Theron) who raised him, and a zoologist (Bill Paxton), in order to protect him from the threat of poachers. An evil poacher (Rade Šerbedžija) wants take his revenge on Joe, for not being able to kill him while Joe was small and for losing his two fingers during the hunt.
Cast
- Bill Paxton as Professor Gregory "Gregg" O'Hara
- Charlize Theron as Jill Young
- John Alexander as Mighty Joe Young
- Rade Šerbedžija as Andrei Strasser
- Regina King as Cecily Banks
- Peter Firth as Garth-Strasser's right-hand man.
- Naveen Andrews as Pindi-Gregg O'Hara's guide in Africa.
- David Paymer as Harry Ruben
- Robert Wisdom as Kweli
- Christian Clemenson as Jack
- Geoffrey Blake as Vern
- Lawrence Pressman as Dr. Elliot Baker
- Linda Purl as Dr. Ruth Young
- Mika Boorem as Young Jill Young
- Cory Buck as Jason
- Liz Georges as Jason's Mother
- Ray Harryhausen as Gentleman at Party
- Terry Moore as Elegant Woman at Party
