The Green Mile
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Frank Darabont
Screenplay by	Frank Darabont
Based on	The Green Mile by Stephen King
Produced by	Frank Darabont David Valdes
Starring	Tom Hanks David Morse Bonnie Hunt Michael Clarke Duncan James Cromwell Michael Jeter Graham Greene Doug Hutchison Sam Rockwell Barry Pepper Jeffrey DeMunn Patricia Clarkson Harry Dean Stanton
Cinematography	David Tattersall
Edited by	Richard Francis-Bruce
Music by	Thomas Newman
Production companies	Castle Rock Entertainment Darkwoods Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros.[a] (Select territories) Universal Pictures[a] (through United International Pictures, select territories)
Release date	December 10, 1999 (1999-12-10) (United States)
Running time	189 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$60 million
Box office	$286.8 million[3]

The Green Mile is a 1999 American fantasy crime drama film written, directed and co-produced by Frank Darabont and based on the 1996 novel by Stephen King. It stars Tom Hanks as a death row prison guard during the Great Depression who witnesses supernatural events following the arrival of an enigmatic convict (Michael Clarke Duncan) at his facility. David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, Sam Rockwell, and James Cromwell appear in supporting roles.

The film premiered in the United States on December 10, 1999, to positive reviews from critics, who praised Darabont's direction and writing, emotional weight, and performances (particularly for Hanks and Duncan), although its length received criticism. It was a commercial success, grossing $286.8 million from its $60 million budget, and was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Duncan, Best Sound, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

In 1999, retiree Paul Edgecomb cries while watching the film Top Hat. He explains to his companion Elaine that it reminds him of events he witnessed as an officer at Cold Mountain Penitentiary death row, "The Green Mile".

In 1935, Paul supervises corrections officers Brutus "Brutal" Howell, Dean Stanton, Harry Terwilliger, and Percy Wetmore. The sadistic Percy flaunts his family connection to the state governor to avoid punishment. He breaks prisoner Eduard "Del" Delacroix fingers and kills his pet mouse, Mr. Jingles.

Prisoner John Coffey is a physically imposing but gentle black man sentenced to death for the rape and murder of two white girls. Arlen Bitterbuck is the first Native American to be executed in the electric chair, and psychotic inmate William "Wild Bill" Wharton frequently assaults the officers and racially abuses John, earning him spells in the padded cell.

John heals Paul's severe bladder infection by touching him, and resurrects Mr. Jingles. Paul comes to doubt that someone with the power to perform miracles is guilty of the crime.

Percy's wish to officiate an execution is granted on condition he immediately thereafter transfer from the penitentiary to a job at an insane asylum. At Del's execution, Percy deliberately avoids soaking the sponge used to conduct electricity to Del's head, leading to Del's gruesome and agonizing death. John also feels Del's pain. The other officers punish Percy by forcing him into a straitjacket for a night in the padded cell. Meanwhile they drug Wharton, and smuggle John out to heal Warden Moores' wife Melinda of a terminal brain tumor.

John transfers Melinda's affliction into Percy's brain, and Percy shoots Wharton dead. John reveals in a vision to Paul that Wharton was the true culprit of the crimes for which he was wrongfully condemned. Percy, in a catatonic state, is committed to the insane asylum where he had planned to work.

Paul is distraught at the thought of executing John, confirmed to be innocent, and offers to let him go free. Equally distraught at the outcome, John nevertheless says execution would actually be a mercy as the world is too cruel for him; and he is in constant pain from the suffering people inflict upon each other. John's last request is to watch a movie, having never seen one before. He, Paul, and the other officers watch Top Hat. As John is taken to be executed, he asks not to have the hood as he is afraid of the dark. The officers hold back tears as John is executed on Paul's order.

Back in the present day, Paul tells Elaine that John's execution was the last that he and Brutal witnessed, they both left the prison and took jobs in the juvenile system. He shows Elaine that Mr. Jingles is still alive, and reveals that he himself is now 108 years old; he was 44 when John was executed. While Elaine sees Paul's long life as a miracle, Paul speculates that outliving all of his loved ones is punishment for John's execution. After Elaine's funeral, Paul muses on how much longer he has to live, saying, "We each owe a death. There are no exceptions. But, oh God, sometimes the Green Mile seems so long."

(Left to right) Tom Hanks (pictured in 2019), David Morse (2015), Sam Rockwell (2009) and James Cromwell (2010)

Frank Darabont adapted Stephen King's novel, The Green Mile, into a screenplay in under eight weeks.^[4]

The film was shot at Warner Hollywood Studios, West Hollywood, California; and on location in Shelbyville, Tennessee; Blowing Rock, North Carolina;^[5] and the old Tennessee State Prison.^[6] The interior sets were custom built by production designer Terence Marsh. "We tried to give our set a sense of space. A sense of history. And a sense of mystery, in a way. We chose the elongated cathedral-like windows because there is a very mystical element in this movie, a supernatural element [...] It presented us with lots of opportunities", he said.^[7] The electric chair was also a bespoke design, and was inspired by real prisons which have the device.^[7]

The film title refers to the stretch of green floor that the hallway inmates walk down before they are to be executed by electric chair.^[8]

Tom Hanks and Darabont met at an Academy Award luncheon in 1994. Stephen King stated he envisioned Hanks in the role and was happy when Darabont mentioned his name.^[4] Hanks was originally supposed to play elderly Paul Edgecomb as well, but the makeup tests did not make him look credible enough to be an elderly man.^[9] Because of this, Dabbs Greer was hired to play the older Edgecomb, his final film role.

Michael Clarke Duncan credited his casting to Bruce Willis, with whom he had worked on the film Armageddon one year earlier. According to Duncan, Willis introduced him to Darabont after hearing of the open call for John Coffey.^[10] Basketball player Shaquille O'Neal has stated he turned down the role of John Coffey.^[11] Josh Brolin was considered for the role of William "Wild Bill" Wharton.^[9]

David Morse had not heard about the script until he was offered the role. He stated he was in tears by the end of it.^[4] Darabont wanted James Cromwell from the start, and after he read the script, Cromwell was moved and agreed.^[4]

The official film soundtrack, Music from the Motion Picture The Green Mile, was released on December 19, 1999, by Warner Bros. It contains 37 tracks, primarily instrumental tracks from the film score by Thomas Newman. It also contains four vocal tracks: "Cheek to Cheek" by Fred Astaire, "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby" by Billie Holiday, "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" by Gene Austin, and "Charmaine" by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians.

In the United States and Canada, The Green Mile opened on December 10, 1999, in 2,875 theaters and grossed $18 million in its opening weekend, placing second at the box office, just behind Toy Story 2 with $18.2 million, although Warner Bros. insisted that The Green Mile was the number one film.^[12] However, it did finish first for the week with $23.9 million compared to Toy Story 2's $22.1 million.^[13][14] It remained at number two in its second weekend and in the top 10 for 10 weeks but never reached number one for the weekend.^[15] It went on to gross $136.8 million in the U.S. and Canada and $150 million in other territories, bringing a worldwide total of $286.8 million, against its production budget of $60 million.^[15] It was the second highest-grosser in Japan for the year with a gross of $55.3 million.^[16]

On Rotten Tomatoes The Green Mile holds an approval rating of 79% based on 136 reviews with an average rating of 6.80/10. The website's critics consensus states, "Though The Green Mile is long, critics say it's an absorbing, emotionally powerful experience."^[17] At Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[18] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.^[19]

Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half out of four stars, writing, "The film is a shade over three hours long. I appreciated the extra time, which allows us to feel the passage of prison months and years ... it tells a story with beginning, middle, end, vivid characters, humor, outrage and emotional release".^[20] Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Lisa Schwarzbaum also took note of the film's length, but praised Tom Hanks' "superior" performance and Darabont's direction. "Darabont's style of picture making is well matched to King-size yarn spinning. The director isn't afraid to let big emotions and grand gestures linger", she said.^[21]

San Francisco Chronicle's Edward Guthmann thought the cinematography was "handsome", and the music was "florid and melodramatic". He added, "Darabont is such a committed filmmaker, and believes so earnestly and intensely in the stories he puts onscreen".^[22] Desson Thomson of The Washington Post called the storytelling "brilliant", and said "From its deceptively easygoing beginning to the heart-wrenching finale, The Green Mile keeps you wonderfully high above the cynical ground."^[23]

Some critics had a less positive response. Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter opined, "By inflating the simple story with a languorous pace, pregnant pauses, long reaction shots and an infinitely slow metabolism, Darabont has burdened his movie version with more self-importance than it can possibly sustain."^[24] While complimenting the production design and soundtrack, the critic from Timeout magazine thought some scenes were tiresome and the film "suffers from a surfeit of plot threads and characters".^[25]

Writing for the BBC, Clark Collis criticized the film's length and pacing.^[26] David Ansen of Newsweek thought The Green Mile was weaker than Darabont's previous film, The Shawshank Redemption (1994). He stated, The Green Mile is a "lumbering, self-important three-hour melodrama that defies credibility at every turn".^[27]

The film was released on VHS and DVD on June 13, 2000 by Warner Home Video.^[42][43] The film earned $17.45 million in combined DVD and VHS rental revenue by June 18, 2000.^[42]

The Blu-ray was released on December 1, 2009. A remastered 4K UHD Blu-ray was released on February 22, 2022.

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Green Mile (film).

• Official website
• The Green Mile at IMDb 
• The Green Mile at the TCM Movie Database