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Big Fish is a 2003 American fantasy drama film directed by Tim Burton. It is based on the 1998 novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace. The film stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Alison Lohman, Robert Guillaume, Marion Cotillard, Steve Buscemi, and Danny DeVito. It tells the story of a frustrated son who tries to distinguish fact from fiction in the life of his father, a teller of tall tales.
The film's screenwriter, John August, read a manuscript of the novel six months before it was published and convinced Columbia Pictures to acquire the rights. He began adapting the novel as a screenplay while producers negotiated with Steven Spielberg about directing the film; Spielberg eventually left the project to focus on Catch Me If You Can (2002). Tim Burton and Richard D. Zanuck took over after completing Planet of the Apes (2001), and brought McGregor and Finney on board.
The film's theme of reconciliation between a dying father and his son had special significance for Burton, whose father had died in 2000. Big Fish was shot on location in Alabama in a series of fairy tale vignettes with a Southern Gothic aesthetic. The film premiered on December 4, 2003 in Manhattan. It was released in limited capacity on December 10, followed by a wide release on January 9, 2004. It received various award nominations, including seven BAFTA nominations, four Golden Globe nominations and two Saturn Award nominations. It also received an Academy Award nomination and a Grammy Award nomination for Danny Elfman's original score. A musical adaptation of Big Fish premiered in Chicago in April 2013.
