Empire of the Sun

Empire of the Sun

“To survive in a world at war, he must find a strength greater than all the events that surround him.”

December 9, 1987PG2h 33mTMDB ★ 7.5
Letterboxd
3.86/5
123644 reviews

Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirit, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.

Genres

Drama, History, War

Studio

Warner Bros. Pictures

Language

en

Status

Released

Box Office

How Empire of the Sun performed

Budget

$35.0M

Worldwide Gross

$66.7M

Gross Profit

$31.7M

Return

1.9× budget

Opening Wknd (est.)

$10M

Domestic (est.)
International (est.)
$32M$35M

Source: TMDB. Domestic/international split (~48/52, genre-typical) and the opening-weekend figure (30% of the domestic run, typical for Drama) are MoviesRankd estimates. Profit is gross revenue minus production budget and excludes marketing — studios typically need ~2–2.5× budget to break even.

Where to Watch

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7.8

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© 2026 MoviesRankd. Data from TMDB.