25 years ago, it was a box office disappointment. Later, it slowly gained momentum through word of mouth.
Today, it’s considered one of the greatest films of all time.
Here’s everything you need to know about the film The Shawshank Redemption.
Frank Darabont approaches Stephen King and asks him if he can turn his novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, into a full-length feature film.
Although King was a bit confused about how Darabont could actually turn his story into a movie, he approved it anyway.
King had worked with Darabont before and trusted him, after all.
Darabont bought the rights to the story for $5,000.
But King never cashed the check. He later framed the check and returned it to Darabont with a note that read: “In case you ever need bail money. Love, Steve.”
Darabont poured everything into writing the screenplay, and eventually the screenplay took a life on its own, greatly expanding King’s original story.
“It was the best script I’ve ever read. Ever.”
That quote was from Tim Robbins, the actor Castle Rock Entertainment would eventually cast as the main character of the film.
Castle Rock produced the film when producer Liz Glotzer threatened to quit if they didn’t take it on.
As it turns out, Castle Rock loved the script, too.
Director Rob Reiner, who also happened to be the co-founder of Castle Rock, loved the script so much he offered Darabont up to $3 million to let him direct it himself.
Reiner also said they’d finance any other film Darabont wanted to make.
Darabont turned down the offer, wanting to direct the film himself.
Castle Rock gave him a $25 million budget, and he began pre-production in January 1993, with Niki Marvin as the lead producer.
As I said earlier, Tim Robbins took the role of the main character, Andy. However, that was after Kevin Costner, Tom Hanks, and Tom Cruise all turned down the role.
Robbins talked Darabont into hiring Roger Deakins with him, a well known cinematographer who had worked with him in The Hudsucker Proxy.
To prepare for the role, Robbins spoke with various prisoners and guards, had his arms and legs shackled for a few hours, and even spent some time in solitary confinement.
The producers cast Morgan Freeman as “Red,” even though his character in the novella was white and Irish.
Filming took place in the summer of 1993 at the Ohio State Reformatory, a historic prison which had closed three years prior.
Darabont tended to be a perfectionist on set, requiring multiple takes for even the most simple scenes.
Actors regularly worked up to 18-hour days. Darabont filmed most interior shots in the actual prison, not elsewhere.
When Castle Rock test screened The Shawshank Redemption, early audiences absolutely loved it, and critics praised it.
Expectations were high when the film opened in theaters on September 23, 1994.
However, it ended up being a flop, losing money at the box office and only making $16 million after 10 weeks in theaters.
Part of the problem was the name of the film. People had a hard time even saying it.
Another problem was that it was competing with a bunch of big films like Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump.
However, film critics kept pouring in the love, and eventually it was nominated for seven Oscars.
After getting recognized at the Academy Awards, Castle Rock re-released the film in theaters so it could try to break even. It was still a disappointment.
But The Shawshank Redemption had a...um...redemption of sorts through an old medium called VHS.
It became one of the most-rented films of 1995. And since the cable network TNT could regularly show the film at a very low cost, it showed it all the time.
After Warner Brothers got the rights to the film, it expanded it into regular programming on even more cable networks.
By 2013, the film had been on 15 cable channels.
Because of this, word of mouth spread like wildfire. It became a cult hit, and eventually the film made $58.3 million worldwide. Redemption indeed.
While you should definitely watch it yourself, here is the basic storyline.
I will definitely not spoil anything for this one. I really want you to experience it yourself.
The story begins in 1947, in Portland, Maine.
A jury convicts banker Andy Dufresne of murdering his wife and her lover.
He is to serve two consecutive life sentences at the Shawshank State Penitentiary.
It’s understandably a rough start for Andy at the rough prison, but he soon befriends Ellis “Red” Redding, who is known as a guy who can “get things.”
"I've known to get certain things from time to time."
A couple years later, Andy makes even more friends by getting them beers while working on the prison roof after offering to help the captain of the guards, Byron Hadley, get out of paying his taxes.
Hadley later beats and cripples Bogs, another prisoner who had been regularly attacking and raping Andy.
After that, Andy is not assaulted again. Andy also manages to elevate his status and gets to work in the prison library and also handles the financial matters of other prison staff, including even the warden, Samuel Norton.
For most of the rest of the film, while the viewer sees how prison changes Andy, you see how he is able to reform the prison, you also see how he never loses hope that someday his innocence will be proved
"We forget that there are places
in the world that aren't made of stone. That there's a
There's something inside, that they can't get to
They can't touch."
even when there are major obstacles to this.
Many interpret The Shawshank Redemption as containing several references to Christianity beliefs and theories.
While Warden Norton directly invokes Jesus Christ several times in the film he actually ends up being more like Satan as he’s a pretty corrupt dude.
The scene in which Andy and fellow inmates tar the prison roof has been interpreted as a re-creation of the Last Supper, with Andy getting beer like Jesus got wine for his disciples.
Andy speaks of Zihuatanejo in the film, a reference to the Mexican city, as a place of paradise.
This could be the heaven that many folks believe they will get to after they die after a tough life with many trials and tribulations...which symbolically could be whatever “prison” they find themselves in.
Mostly, though, it’s a story about hope, friendship, and self-worth under bleak conditions. And hope, friendship, and self-worth are often what gets us all through the tough times.
The film humanizes humans who are not usually humanized, while demonizes those we assume are moral.
Almost all of the characters in the film are men, yet it often stirs the emotions of the men who watch it.
Vanity Fair’s Margaret Heidenry calls it “a relationship movie for men.” And it features...just a darn good story.
The Shawshank Redemption is the highest ranked film of all time, at least according to public voting on the website IMDB.
Critics almost universally praised the film and still cherish it today.
From the screenplay, to the acting, to the cinematography, it’s really difficult to find flaws with the film.
While Frank Darabont later adapted and directed two other Stephen King stories, The Green Mile and Mist, King later said it was Shawshank that was his favorite adaptation of his work, well along with Stand by Me.
In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film to be preserved in the National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Today the defunct prison where the film was set, on the outskirts of Mansfield, Ohio, is a pilgrimage site.
Originally scheduled to be torn down after filming ended, it became a tourist attraction which has brought tens of millions of dollars into the local economy, which overall has been on the decline for decades.
Fans from around the world not only visit the prison but nearby locations where they filmed via what’s known as the “Shawshank Trail.”
The old prison is also now home to conventions, trade shows, ghost hunts, concerts, and even weddings and proms.
Last month, an estimated 30,000 fans of the movie came together to celebrate the 25th anniversary celebration.
The film has been influential on how many of us view prisons.
Today, thanks to the film, even just hearing the word “Shawshank” makes us think of prison.
Many have compared watching the film to a religious experience.
It’s simple message of having hope no matter how crappy life gets is universal, and has created a ridiculously diverse fan base.
This film sticks with you. It stays in your head. And it stays in your heart. It stays for a long time
"I wonder where 10 years went."
It probably will stick around longer than that "We see by your file you've served 20 years of a life sentence."
Heck, even longer. "30 years."
Nope, longer than that.
I wish I could see it again for the first time.
September 23 marks the 25th anniversary of when The Shawshank Redemption first opened in theaters.
Do you remember the first time you watched this film? I’d love to hear about your experience.
Also, how many of you have been to Mansfield to visit the prison? I haven’t been yet, but hope to go soon.
And finally, other film would you like to see explained in a similar fashion?
Let me know in the comments below. Hey, I appreciate you watching. Thank you.