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87-479: Forrest Gump is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis . An adaptation of the 1986 novel by Winston Groom , the screenplay of the film is written by Eric Roth . It stars Tom Hanks in the title role, alongside Robin Wright , Gary Sinise , Mykelti Williamson , and Sally Field in lead roles. The film follows the life of an Alabama man named Forrest Gump (Hanks) and his experiences in

174-862: A master's degree in public administration . She took a job as an employee relations specialist at the central office of the United States Veteran's Administration . During her time in Washington, she attended the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 . She was appointed to a position as the executive director of the Voter Education Project in August 1977 and worked towards voter equality for minorities. In this role, she helped provide assistance and funds to local voter registration projects. She also helped in

261-412: A professional wrestler , and a chess player. The book had a bidding war regarding an adaptation even before publication, with Wendy Finerman and Steve Tisch acquiring them by joining forces with Warner Bros. , where Finerman's husband Mark Canton was president of production. Groom was paid $ 500,000 and also wrote the first three first drafts of the screenplay, which leaned closer to the events of

348-423: A 3 percent share of the film's net profits. However, Paramount and the film's producers did not pay him the percentage, using Hollywood accounting to posit that the blockbuster film lost money. Tom Hanks, by contrast, contracted for a percent share of the film's gross receipts instead of a salary, and he and director Zemeckis each received $ 40 million. In addition, Groom was not mentioned once in any of

435-518: A Leading Role (Hanks had won the previous year for Philadelphia ), Best Director , Best Visual Effects , Best Adapted Screenplay , and Best Film Editing at the 67th Academy Awards . The film was nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards , winning three of them: Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama , Best Director – Motion Picture , and Best Motion Picture – Drama . The film was also nominated for six Saturn Awards and won two for Best Fantasy Film and Best Supporting Actor (Film) . In addition to

522-486: A baby-boomer version of Disney's America ." Gump garnered comparisons to fictional character Huckleberry Finn , as well as U.S. politicians Ronald Reagan , Pat Buchanan and Bill Clinton . Peter Chomo writes that Gump acts as a "social mediator and as an agent of redemption in divided times". Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called Gump "everything we admire in the American character – honest, brave, and loyal with

609-408: A box of chocolates." In 2015, The Hollywood Reporter polled hundreds of academy members, asking them to re-vote on past controversial decisions. Academy members said that, given a second chance, they would award the 1994 Oscar for Best Picture to The Shawshank Redemption instead. Winston Groom was paid $ 350,000 for the screenplay rights to his novel Forrest Gump and was contracted for

696-492: A car, Deputy Attorney General Katzenbach and a small team of federal marshals confronted Wallace to demand that Malone and Hood be allowed entry by order of the federal court and for Wallace to step aside. Wallace had not only refused the order, but he interrupted Katzenbach; in front of the crowds of media crews surrounding him, Wallace delivered a short, symbolic speech concerning state sovereignty, claiming: "The unwelcomed, unwanted, unwarranted and force-induced intrusion upon

783-532: A comedy drama, this hybrid genre often deals with real life situations, grounded characters, and believable situations. The ratio between the drama and comedy can vary, but most of the time there is an equal measure of both, with neither side dominating. Abreu also adds that dramedies often deal with relatable and serious topics such as divorce, illness, hardship, and heartache. Examples of comedy dramas in American film include: Examples of American television comedy dramas include: Vivian Malone Jones Malone

870-557: A family friend that the local Non-Partisan Voter League had organized a plan to desegregate the University of Alabama 's branch school in Mobile. Due to her exceptional performance in high school, Malone was one out of a number of local black students the organization suggested apply to the Mobile campus. At least 200 black students had applied to the university only to have their applications rejected. The university denied admission to

957-453: A girl named Jenny Curran, and the two become best friends. Forrest is often bullied because of his physical disability and low intelligence. While fleeing from several bullies, his leg braces break off, revealing Forrest to be a very fast runner. This talent eventually allows him to receive a football scholarship at the University of Alabama in 1963, where he is coached by Bear Bryant , and witnesses Governor George Wallace 's Stand in

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1044-441: A heart of gold." The New York Times reviewer Janet Maslin called Gump a "hollow man" who is "self-congratulatory in his blissful ignorance, warmly embraced as the embodiment of absolutely nothing." Marc Vincenti of Palo Alto Weekly called the character "a pitiful stooge taking the pie of life in the face, thoughtfully licking his fingers." Bruce Kawin and Gerald Mast 's textbook on film history notes that Forrest Gump's dimness

1131-871: A historical marker was installed at the Mobile County Health Department in honor of Jones. It was placed at the location of her childhood home, which is now the parking lot for the Keeler Memorial Building on the Health Department's campus. The marker sits along the Dora Franklin Finley African-American Heritage Trail in Mobile, Alabama . In 2018, a street in downtown Mobile was named in her honor. In 2018, JaVaughnae Malone and her mother, Janice, started

1218-468: A humorous tenor. In television, modern scripted comedy dramas tend to have more humour integrated into the story than the comic relief common in drama series but usually contain a lower joke rate than sitcoms . In the very influential Greek theatre , plays were considered comedies or tragedies. This concept even influenced Roman theatre and theatre of the Hellenistic period . Theatre of that era

1305-565: A man named Forrest Gump recounts his life story to strangers who sit next to him on a bench. In 1951, in Greenbow, Alabama , young Forrest is fitted with leg braces to correct a curved spine , and cannot walk properly. He lives alone with his mother, who runs a boarding house out of their home that attracts many tenants, including a young Elvis Presley , who plays the guitar for Forrest and incorporates Forrest's jerky dance movements into his performances. On his first day of school, Forrest meets

1392-458: A nonprofit called Vivian's Door in Mobile, Alabama. With a purpose of fostering minority-owned businesses, Vivian's Door has dedicated itself to providing training, resources, networking opportunities, and customers to local minority businesses in south Alabama. Their initiative was inspired by JaVaughnae's cousin, Vivian Malone Jones. Additionally, the University of Alabama awards a student

1479-505: A rating of 82 out of 100 based on 20 reviews by mainstream critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+" grade. The story was commended by several critics. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "I've never met anyone like Forrest Gump in a movie before, and for that matter I've never seen a movie quite like 'Forrest Gump.' Any attempt to describe him will risk making

1566-519: A rise in film and television works that could be described as comedy-dramas. The term is a translation from the French "comédie dramatique". The portmanteau "dramedy" came to be in the 1980s. In January 2022, Rafael Abreu, writing for the StudioBinder filmmaking blog, defined this genre as follows: A dramedy is a movie or program that balances the elements of a drama and a comedy. Also known as

1653-399: A student, James Hood , to desegregate the University of Alabama. After two years of deliberation and court proceedings, Malone and Hood were granted permission to enroll in the university by order of District Court Judge Harlan Grooms in 1963. The district court had ruled that the University of Alabama's practice of denying black students admission into their university was a violation of

1740-427: A three-car motorcade full of federal marshals , arrived at the University of Alabama's campus with the intention to enroll. Waiting for them on campus and blocking the entryway to Foster Auditorium was Governor Wallace, flanked by a group of state troopers. Wallace intended to keep true to his promise of upholding segregation in the state and stopping "integration at the schoolhouse door". As Malone and Hood waited in

1827-399: A very conservative lifestyle, Jenny's life is full of countercultural embrace, complete with drug use, promiscuity, and antiwar rallies, and that their eventual marriage might be a kind of reconciliation. Jennifer Hyland Wang argues in a Cinema Journal article that Jenny's death to an unnamed virus "symbolizes the death of liberal America and the death of the protests that defined a decade" in

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1914-417: A while, Forrest proposes to her. She tells Forrest she loves him and the two have sex, but she leaves the next morning. Heartbroken, Forrest goes running and spends the next three years in a relentless cross-country marathon, becoming famous again before returning to Greenbow. In 1981, Forrest reveals that he is waiting at the bus stop because he received a letter from Jenny, who asked him to visit her. Forrest

2001-584: A year later on September 10, 1996. It was released in a two-disc DVD set on August 28, 2001. Special features included director and producer commentaries, production featurettes, and screen tests. The film was released on Blu-ray in November 2009. Paramount released the film on Ultra HD Blu-ray in June 2018. On May 7, 2019, Paramount Pictures released a newly remastered two-disc Blu-ray that contains bonus content. Forrest Gump won Best Picture , Best Actor in

2088-571: Is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism by President Lyndon B. Johnson . At the anti-war March on the Pentagon rally, Forrest meets Abbie Hoffman and briefly reunites with Jenny, who has been living a hippie lifestyle. He also develops a talent for ping-pong , and becomes a sports celebrity as he competes against Chinese teams in ping-pong diplomacy , earning him an interview alongside John Lennon on The Dick Cavett Show , influencing

2175-413: Is finally reunited with Jenny, who introduces him to their son, Forrest Gump Jr. Jenny tells Forrest she is sick with an unknown incurable virus, and the three move back to Greenbow. Jenny and Forrest finally marry, but she dies a year later. The film ends with Forrest sending his son off on his first day of school. "The writer, Eric Roth, departed substantially from the book. We flipped the two elements of

2262-680: Is his acting double in the movie for the scenes when Forrest runs across the U.S. Tom's daughter Elizabeth Hanks appears in the movie as the girl on the school bus who refuses to let young Forrest sit next to her. Joe Pesci and Kevin Bacon were considered for the role of Lieutenant Dan Taylor, which was eventually given to Gary Sinise . Sinise drew inspiration from the struggles that Vietnam veterans, some on his wife's side of his family, were going through when returning from serving in Vietnam. David Alan Grier , Ice Cube and Dave Chappelle were offered

2349-583: Is non-political and thus non-judgmental". Nevertheless, CNN's Crossfire debated in 1994 whether the film promoted conservative values or was an indictment of the counterculture of the 1960s . Thomas Byers called it "an aggressively conservative film" in a Modern Fiction Studies article. All over the political map, people have been calling Forrest their own. But, Forrest Gump isn't about politics or conservative values. It's about humanity, it's about respect, tolerance and unconditional love. —producer Steve Tisch It has been noted that while Gump follows

2436-541: Is thought to have long-lasting influence, even in modern narrative works. Even today, works are often classified into two broad buckets, dramas and comedies. For instance, many awards that recognize achievements in film and television today, such as the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards segregate several award categories into these two classifications. The 20th century saw

2523-714: The 20th-century United States . Principal photography took place between August and December 1993, mainly in Georgia , North Carolina , and South Carolina . Extensive visual effects were used to incorporate Hanks into archived footage and to develop other scenes. The soundtrack features songs reflecting the different periods seen in the film. Forrest Gump was released in the United States on July 6, 1994, and received widespread critical acclaim for Zemeckis's direction, performances (particularly those of Hanks and Sinise), visual effects, music, and screenplay. The film

2610-574: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , a position she held until her retirement in 1996. Upon her retirement, she began to sell life insurance. In October 1996, Jones was chosen by the George Wallace Family Foundation to be the first recipient of its Lurleen B. Wallace Award of Courage. At the ceremony, Wallace said, "Vivian Malone Jones was at the center of the fight over states' rights and conducted herself with grace, strength and, above all, courage." In 2000, Jones gave

2697-488: The U.S. Supreme Court 's ruling in the Brown v. Board of Education case, in which the act of educating black children in schools intentionally separated from white students was charged as unconstitutional. Judge Grooms had also forbidden Governor George Wallace from interfering with the students' registration. On June 11, 1963, Malone and Hood, accompanied by United States Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach and

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2784-682: The University of Southern California . The lighthouse that Forrest runs across to reach the Atlantic Ocean the first time is the Marshall Point Lighthouse in Port Clyde, Maine . Additional scenes were filmed in Arizona, Utah's Monument Valley , and Montana's Glacier National Park . Ken Ralston and his team at Industrial Light & Magic were responsible for the film's visual effects. Using CGI techniques, it

2871-399: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 76% of 157 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.90/10. The website's consensus reads: "Tom Hanks' rigorously earnest performance keeps Forrest Gump sincere even when it gets glib with American history, making for a whimsical odyssey of debatable wisdom but undeniable heart." At the website Metacritic , the film earned

2958-476: The shrimping business with him after their service. In 1967, they are sent to Vietnam , serving with the 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta region. After months of routine operations, their platoon is ambushed while on patrol, and Bubba is killed in action. Forrest saves several wounded platoon mates – including his lieutenant, Dan Taylor, who loses both his legs – and

3045-481: The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time. In December 2011, Forrest Gump was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress ' National Film Registry . The Registry said that the film was "honored for its technological innovations (the digital insertion of Gump seamlessly into vintage archival footage ), its resonance within the culture that has elevated Gump (and what he represents in terms of American innocence) to

3132-509: The 1960s. She also notes that the film's screenwriter, Eric Roth , developed the screenplay from the novel and transferred to Jenny "all of Gump's flaws and most of the excesses committed by Americans in the 1960s and 1970s". Comedy drama Comedy drama , also known by the portmanteau dramedy , is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama . In films, serious dramatic themes (such as death, illness, etc.) are dealt with realism and subtlety, while preserving

3219-525: The Lost Ark . Forrest Gump held the record for being the highest-grossing Paramount film until it was taken by Titanic three years later in 1997. However, it remained the highest-grossing film solely distributed by Paramount until it was surpassed by Shrek the Third 13 years later in 2007. Ultimately, it finished as the 4th highest grossing film of the 1990s domestically. For 12 years, it remained as

3306-597: The Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College . Jones had a son, a daughter, three grandchildren, four sisters, and three brothers. The arrival of Vivian Malone Jones and James Hood to the University of Alabama, also known as Stand in the Schoolhouse Door, was depicted in the 1994 film Forrest Gump . The main character appeared at the event and handed Jones a book she dropped when walking into Foster Auditorium. In 2017,

3393-589: The Schoolhouse Door , during which he returns a dropped book to Vivian Malone Jones . Forrest becomes a top kick returner , is named on the All-American team , and meets President John F. Kennedy at the White House . After graduating college in 1966, Forrest enlists in the U.S. Army . During basic training, he befriends a fellow soldier named Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue, who convinces Forrest to go into

3480-552: The United States and Canada grossing $ 24,450,602 in its opening weekend. Motion picture business consultant and screenwriter Jeffrey Hilton suggested to producer Wendy Finerman to double the P&;A (film marketing budget) based on his viewing of an early print of the film. The budget was immediately increased, in line with his advice. In its opening weekend, the film placed first at the US box office , narrowly beating The Lion King , which

3567-405: The United States. Gump's core character and personality are also changed from the novel; among other things, his film character is less of a savant —in the novel, while playing football at the university, he fails craft and gym but receives a perfect score in an advanced physics class he is enrolled in by his coach to satisfy his college requirements. The novel also features Gump as an astronaut ,

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3654-526: The University of Alabama. She was a member of From the Heart Christian Ministries of Atlanta where she served as an usher. Her brother-in-law Eric Holder served as U.S. Attorney General . Her nephew Jeff Malone was an All-American basketball student-athlete at Mississippi State University and NBA standout. Jones died following a stroke at age 63 on October 13, 2005, in an Atlanta hospital. Her funeral services were held at

3741-733: The Vietnam scenes. Forrest Gump narrated his life's story at the northern edge of Chippewa Square in Savannah, Georgia , as he sat at a bus stop bench. There were other scenes filmed in and around the Savannah area as well, including a running shot on the Richard V. Woods Memorial Bridge in Beaufort while he was being interviewed by the press, and on West Bay Street in Savannah. Most of the college campus scenes were filmed in Los Angeles at

3828-674: The Vivian Malone Jones Endowed Scholarship for Diversity each year. In 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency established the Vivian Malone Jones Legacy Award in her honor. Each year, an individual who has demonstrated integrity and consistently contributed to social justice in the Environmental Protection Agency or in the greater community is presented with this award in memoriam of Jones and

3915-432: The applicants on the grounds of over-enrollment and closed enrollment, the quotas already being filled or the academic performance of the students not meeting required standards; however, it had become understood by the community that the university would not admit the black students because of resistance to school desegregation. Black students who had applied to the university's branch campus in Mobile were investigated by

4002-548: The bombings. Two years later, in 1965, she received a Bachelor of Arts in business management and became the first black student to graduate from the University of Alabama. She graduated with a B-plus average. Despite her university achievements, she did not receive any job offers in Alabama. She later joined the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice and served as a research analyst. While in Washington, she attended George Washington University and pursued

4089-402: The book, making the love story primary and the fantastic adventures secondary. Also, the book was cynical and colder than the movie. In the movie, Gump is a completely decent character, always true to his word. He has no agenda and no opinion about anything except Jenny, his mother and God." —director Robert Zemeckis The film is based on the 1986 novel by Winston Groom . Both center on

4176-649: The campus of the University of Alabama ... of the might of the Central Government offers frightful example of the oppression of the rights, privileges and sovereignty of this State by officers of the Federal Government." After seeing that Wallace would not step aside, Katzenbach called upon the assistance of President John F. Kennedy to force Wallace to permit the black students' entry into the university. Katzenbach took Malone up to her dormitory and told her to see her room and eat lunch alone in

4263-418: The character of Forrest Gump. However, the film primarily focuses on the first eleven chapters of the novel before skipping ahead to the end of the novel, with the founding of Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and the meeting with Forrest Jr. In addition to skipping some parts of the novel, the film adds several aspects to Gump's life that do not occur in the novel, such as his needing leg braces as a child and his run across

4350-485: The commencement address at the University of Alabama, and the university bestowed on her a doctorate of humane letters. Additionally, in 2004, the Alabama State Legislature honored her by passing a resolution in commemoration of her outstanding achievements. Jones was married to Mack Arthur Jones, an obstetrician, who predeceased her in 2004. She first met Jones when he was hired as her driver at

4437-582: The community that promoted equality and desegregation. As a teenager, Malone was often involved in community organizations to end racial discrimination and worked closely with local leaders of the movements to work for desegregation in schools. Malone attended Central High School, where she was a member of the National Honor Society . In February 1961, she enrolled in Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University , one of

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4524-410: The difficult feat of being an intimate, even delicate tale played with an appealingly light touch against an epic backdrop." In contrast, Anthony Lane of The New Yorker called the film "Warm, wise, and wearisome as hell." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly said that the film was "glib, shallow, and monotonous" and "reduces the tumult of the last few decades to a virtual-reality theme park:

4611-477: The dining room if she became hungry. Malone went downstairs into the dining room, and was surprised to be joined by several white students, who ate lunch with her. She remained in the dormitory until the situation was determined to have calmed down. President John F. Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard later the same day, which put them under the command of the president, rather than

4698-497: The embodiment of the feather as it comes in. Here is this thing that can land anywhere and that it lands at your feet. It has theological implications that are really huge." Sally Field compared the feather to fate, saying: "It blows in the wind and just touches down here or there. Was it planned or was it just perchance?" Visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston compared the feather to an abstract painting: "It can mean so many things to so many different people." Hanks states that "the film

4785-517: The family would not receive much protection. The threat to her safety did not deter Malone from continuing to support integration in the university and she persisted in applying to the University of Alabama to earn a degree in accounting. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund of Alabama organized an opportunity with Malone to enroll her in the University of Alabama's School of Commerce and Business Administration to earn her accounting degree. The Legal Defense Fund had been working closely with

4872-419: The feather present at the opening and conclusion of the film. Sarah Lyall of The New York Times noted several suggestions made about the feather: "Does the white feather symbolize The Unbearable Lightness of Being ? Forrest Gump's impaired intellect? The randomness of experience?" Hanks interpreted the feather as: "Our destiny is only defined by how we deal with the chance elements to our life and that's kind of

4959-646: The few colleges for black students in the state. She attended Alabama A&M for two years and received a bachelor's degree in business education . Malone had wanted to pursue a degree in accounting, a field of study not offered by Alabama A&M at the time. Moreover, the bachelor's degree Malone received was issued to her before the university had been fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools . To earn an accredited degree in accounting, Malone would have to transfer to another university. In 1961, Malone had received word from

5046-591: The film is set in Alabama, filming took place mainly in and around Beaufort, South Carolina , as well as parts of coastal Virginia and North Carolina, including a running shot on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Grandfather Mountain where a part of the road subsequently became known as "Forrest Gump Curve". Downtown portions of the fictional town of Greenbow were filmed in Varnville, South Carolina . The scene of Forrest running through Vietnam while under fire

5133-590: The film's multiple awards and nominations, it has also been recognized by the American Film Institute on several of its lists. The film ranks 37th on 100 Years...100 Cheers , 71st on 100 Years...100 Movies , and 76th on 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) . In addition, the quote "Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get," was ranked 40th on 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes . The film also ranked at number 61 on Empire ' s list of

5220-427: The film's six Oscar-winner speeches. Groom's dispute with Paramount was later effectively resolved after Groom declared he was satisfied with Paramount's explanation of their accounting, this coinciding with Groom receiving a seven-figure contract with Paramount for film rights to another of his books, Gump & Co. This film was never made, remaining in development hell for at least a dozen years. Forrest Gump

5307-431: The governor of Alabama. One hundred guardsmen escorted Malone and Hood from their dorms back to the auditorium, where Wallace moved aside at the request of General Henry V. Graham . Malone and Hood then entered the building, albeit through another door. As she and Hood entered the building, they were met with surprising applause from white supporters of integration. They then entered the gym and registered as students of

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5394-418: The highest-grossing film starring Tom Hanks; it was surpassed in 2006 by The Da Vinci Code . Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 78.5 million tickets in the US and Canada in its initial theatrical run. The film took 66 days to surpass $ 250 million and was the fastest grossing Paramount film to pass $ 100 million, $ 200 million, and $ 300 million in box office receipts (at

5481-405: The large crowd of people. Over two days of filming, approximately 1,500 extras were used. At each successive take, the extras were rearranged and moved into a different quadrant away from the camera. With the help of computers, the extras were multiplied to create a crowd of several hundred thousand people. Produced on a budget of $ 55 million, Forrest Gump opened in 1,595 theaters in

5568-438: The movie seem more conventional than it is, but let me try. It's a comedy, I guess. Or maybe a drama. Or a dream. The screenplay by Eric Roth has the complexity of modern fiction...The performance is a breathtaking balancing act between comedy and sadness, in a story rich in big laughs and quiet truths...What a magical movie." Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote that the film "has been very well worked out on all levels, and manages

5655-509: The novel. After Rain Man told the story of a savant, Warner lost interest in the picture, and by 1990 the project was in turnaround . Finerman contacted Columbia Pictures , who went on to reject it, while hiring Eric Roth to rewrite the script. Roth and Finerman kept in contact with Groom to ensure the script was historically accurate. Roth delivered a screenplay in 1992, which Paramount Pictures chairwoman Sherry Lansing liked enough to bring

5742-632: The only one to survive Hurricane Carmen , they pull in huge amounts of shrimp and create the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company , after which Dan finally thanks Forrest for saving his life. Forrest returns home to his mother as she dies of cancer . Dan invests in Apple Inc. and the two become millionaires, but Forrest also shares their earnings with the community and Bubba's family. In 1976, Jenny returns to stay with Forrest, recovering from years of child abuse, drugs, and prostitution. After

5829-520: The piloting of Project 23, a program aimed at addressing the barriers that kept Black individuals in the state of Georgia from registering to vote or running for public office. By 1978, the Voter Education project had assisted in the voter registration of about 3 million Black individuals. She later became the Director of Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and Director of Environmental Justice for

5916-410: The project to her studio, who acquired the rights from Warner in exchange for the script for Executive Decision . Ivan Reitman , Penny Marshall and Terry Gilliam passed on the project before Robert Zemeckis was hired. Barry Sonnenfeld was attached to the film, but left to direct Addams Family Values . John Travolta was the original choice to play the title role and said that passing on

6003-506: The protagonist and the film's political symbolism. In 2011, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". An authorized Hindi remake, titled Laal Singh Chaddha , was released in 2022 in which Aamir Khan played the protagonist. In 1981, at a bus stop in Savannah, Georgia ,

6090-593: The role of Benjamin Buford Blue, but all three turned it down. Chappelle, who said he believed the film would be unsuccessful, has been reported as saying that he regrets not taking the role. Hanks was aware of Chappelle's disappointment in missing out on the part and agreed to work with him in a future movie, which ended up being You've Got Mail . Rapper Tupac Shakur also auditioned. Filming began in August 1993 and ended in December of that year. Although most of

6177-444: The role was a mistake. Bill Murray , Chevy Chase , and Matthew Broderick were also considered for the role. Sean Penn had stated in an interview that he had been second choice for the role, but would later portray a character with a disability in the 2001 film I Am Sam . Hanks revealed that he signed on to the film after an hour and a half of reading the script. He initially wanted to ease Forrest's pronounced Southern accent, but

6264-739: The song "Imagine" . He spends the 1971 New Year's Eve in New York City with Dan, who has become deeply embittered. Forrest soon meets President Richard Nixon and is put up in the Watergate complex , where he unwittingly exposes the Watergate scandal . Discharged from the army, Forrest returns to Greenbow and endorses a company that makes ping-pong paddles. He uses the earnings to buy a shrimping boat in Bayou La Batre , fulfilling his promise to Bubba. Dan joins Forrest in 1974, and they initially have little success. After their boat becomes

6351-500: The status of folk hero, and its attempt to engage both playfully and seriously with contentious aspects of the era's traumatic history." American Film Institute lists "I don't want to sound like a bad version of 'the child within'. But the childlike innocence of Forrest Gump is what we all once had. It's an emotional journey. You laugh and cry. It does what movies are supposed to do: make you feel alive." —producer Wendy Finerman Various interpretations have been suggested for

6438-540: The time of its release). After reissues, the film has gross receipts of $ 330,252,182 in the U.S. and Canada and $ 347,693,217 in international markets for a total of $ 677,945,399 worldwide. Even with such revenue, the film was known as a "successful failure"; due to distributors' and exhibitors' high fees, Paramount's "losses" clocked in at $ 62 million, leaving executives realizing the necessity of better deals. This has also been associated with Hollywood accounting , where expenses are inflated to minimize profit sharing. On

6525-417: The university's department of Public Safety, including Malone. After applying to the Mobile branch of the University of Alabama, Malone and her family had been visited by two white men who had claimed that they were representatives of the state. They disclosed that her attempts to apply to the Mobile campus and integrate with the school had instigated violent retaliation from the local white community from which

6612-471: The university, with Malone being accepted into the university as a junior. Malone's time spent at the University of Alabama was relatively free of conflict and threats to her safety, with the exception of a spree of bombings that occurred in November 1963 by rioting whites possibly angry with the integration policy. After much deliberation between the U.S. Marshal and Katzenbach, it was decided that Malone would not be taken out of school or unenrolled because of

6699-662: Was a major success at the box office: it became the top-grossing film in the United States released that year and earned over US$ 678.2   million worldwide during its theatrical run, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 1994 , behind The Lion King . The soundtrack sold over 12 million copies. Forrest Gump won six Academy Awards : Best Picture , Best Director , Best Actor for Hanks, Best Adapted Screenplay , Best Visual Effects , and Best Film Editing . It received many award nominations , including Golden Globes , British Academy Film Awards , and Screen Actors Guild Awards . Various interpretations have been made of

6786-614: Was a metaphor for glamorized nostalgia in that he represented a blank slate onto which the Baby Boomer generation projected their memories of those events. Writing in 2004, Entertainment Weekly said, "Nearly a decade after it earned gazillions and swept the Oscars, Robert Zemeckis's ode to 20th-century America still represents one of cinema's most clearly drawn lines in the sand. One half of folks see it as an artificial piece of pop melodrama, while everyone else raves that it's sweet as

6873-475: Was achieved by wrapping his legs with a blue fabric, which later facilitated the work of the "roto-paint" team to paint out his legs from every single frame. At one point, while hoisting himself into his wheelchair , his legs are used for support. The scene where Forrest spots Jenny at a peace rally at the Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., required visual effects to create

6960-517: Was born in Mobile , Mobile County , Alabama in 1942, the fourth of eight children. Her parents both worked at Brookley Air Force Base ; her father served in maintenance and her mother worked as a domestic servant. Her parents emphasized the importance of receiving an education and made sure that their children attended college. Each of Malone's older brothers attended Tuskegee University . Her parents were also active in civil rights and often participated in local meetings, donations, and activities in

7047-431: Was eventually persuaded by director Robert Zemeckis to portray the heavy accent stressed in the novel. Hanks also said it took him three days producing unusable footage in order to learn how to play the role. Winston Groom , who wrote the original novel, describes the film as having taken the "rough edges" off the character whom he had envisioned being played by John Goodman . Additionally, Tom's younger brother Jim Hanks

7134-592: Was filmed on Hunting Island State Park and Fripp Island , South Carolina . Additional filming took place on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina . The Gump family home set was built along the Combahee River near Yemassee, South Carolina , and the nearby land was used to film Curran's home as well as some of the Vietnam scenes. Over 20  palmetto trees were planted to improve

7221-439: Was first released on VHS on April 27, 1995, and on Laserdisc the following day. The laserdisc was THX certified and released without chapters, requiring the film be watched start to finish. Film magazines of the period stated this was at the request of Zemeckis who wanted viewers to enjoy the film in its entirety. It became the best-selling adult sell-through video with sales of over 12 million. A widescreen VHS release debuted

7308-470: Was in its fourth week of release. For the first twelve weeks of release, the film was in the top 3 at the US box office, topping the list 5 times, including in its tenth week of release. Paramount removed the film from release in the United States when its gross hit $ 300 million in January 1995, and it was the second-highest-grossing film of the year, behind The Lion King with $ 305 million. The film

7395-560: Was integrated into it. In one Vietnam War scene, Gump carries Bubba away from an incoming napalm attack. To create the effect, stunt actors were initially used for compositing purposes. Then, Hanks and Williamson were filmed, with Williamson supported by a cable wire as Hanks ran with him. The explosion was then filmed, and the actors were digitally added to appear just in front of the explosions. The jet fighters and napalm canisters were also added by CGI. The CGI removal of actor Gary Sinise 's legs, after his character had them amputated,

7482-487: Was possible to depict Gump meeting deceased personages and shaking their hands. Hanks was first shot against a blue screen along with reference markers so that he could line up with the archive footage. To record the voices of the historical figures, voice actors were filmed and special effects were used to alter lip-syncing for the new dialogue. Archival footage was used and with the help of such techniques as chroma key , image warping , morphing , and rotoscoping , Hanks

7569-555: Was reissued on February 17, 1995, after the Academy Awards nominations were announced. After the reissue in 1,100 theaters, the film grossed an additional $ 29 million in the United States and Canada, bringing its total to $ 329.7 million, making it the third-highest-grossing film at that time behind only E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Jurassic Park , and was Paramount's biggest, surpassing Raiders of

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