The Alamo film poster

The Alamo is a 2004 movie, a second major studio film about the legendary Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution, was shot and scheduled for release initially in December 2003 and then rescheduled for release in April 2004. This remake was directed by native Texan John Lee Hancock, and produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, and Mark Johnson. Its script is credited to Hancock, John Sayles, Stephen Gaghan and Leslie Bohem. Its production budget was $95,000,000. It was produced and distributed by The Walt Disney Company with subsidiary Buena Vista International handling U.S. distribution through the Touchstone Pictures division.

It was shot near Austin, Texas between January and June 2003, mostly on a local property named Reimers Ranch. Here, what is reported to be the largest outdoor film set in history was built, comprising the entire Alamo mission and the nearby town of Bexar. The film's art direction devoted the greatest care to historical accuracy and verisimilitude; for instance, the mission's facade does not feature the well-known "hump" at the top, a detail that was actually added years after the battle during a restoration.

In contrast to the earlier 1960 film, the 2003 script makes an effort to depict the political points of view of both the Mexican and Texian sides. Santa Anna is featured as a much more prominent character.

The cast includes Billy Bob Thornton as a demythologized Crockett, Jason Patric as Bowie, stage actor Patrick Wilson as Travis, Dennis Quaid as Houston, Emilio Echevarría as Santa Anna, and Jordi Molla as Seguin.

The movie opened on Easter weekend to mostly middling reviews and a low box office turnout. In its first weekend, it was defeated in box office numbers by a resurgent The Passion of the Christ. It cost over $140 million USD to make and market the film but earned only $9.1 million USD in its first weekend. By its second month of release, the film had yet to muster $30 million USD in domestic earnings. It ended its theatrical run with a worldwide gross of slightly less than $26 million [1].

See also

• The Alamo – other uses

External links

• The Alamo at The Internet Movie Database
• The Alamo Movie site (2004)