Flight (2012 film)
Updated: 12/11/2025, 4:48:56 PM Wikipedia source
Flight is a 2012 American drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by John Gatins and produced by Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, Steve Starkey, Zemeckis, and Jack Rapke. The film stars Denzel Washington as William "Whip" Whitaker Sr., an alcoholic airline pilot who miraculously crash-lands his plane after a mechanical failure, saving nearly everyone on board. Although hailed a hero, an investigation soon begins to cast the captain in a different light. Flight premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 14, 2012, and was theatrically released the following month on November 2, 2012 by Paramount Pictures. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Washington's performance and Zemeckis' return to live-action filmmaking, his first such film since Cast Away and What Lies Beneath in 2000. The film was also a commercial success, grossing $161.8 million against a production budget of $31 million. Flight appeared on multiple critics' year-end top ten lists and received two nominations at the 85th Academy Awards for Best Actor (Washington) and Best Original Screenplay.
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Tables
| Award | Category | Subject | Result |
| Academy Award | Best Actor | Denzel Washington | Nominated |
| Best Original Screenplay | John Gatins | Nominated | |
| AACTA Awards | Best International Actor | Denzel Washington | Nominated |
| Art Directors Guild Award | Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film | Nelson Coates | Nominated |
| Black Reel Award | Best Film | Flight | Nominated |
| Best Actor | Denzel Washington | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Tamara Tunie | Nominated | |
| Best Ensemble | The Cast of Flight | Nominated | |
| Broadcast Film Critics Association Award | Best Actor | Denzel Washington | Nominated |
| Best Original Screenplay | John Gatins | Nominated | |
| Chicago Film Critics Association Award | Best Actor | Denzel Washington | Nominated |
| Chicago International Film Festival | Founder's Award | Robert Zemeckis | Won |
| Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award | Best Actor | Denzel Washington | Nominated |
| Golden Globe Award | Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama | Nominated | |
| Hollywood Film Festival | Spotlight Award | Kelly Reilly | Won |
| NAACP Image Award | Outstanding Motion Picture | Flight | Nominated |
| Outstanding Actor | Denzel Washington | Won | |
| Outstanding Supporting Actor | Don Cheadle | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture | John Gatins | Nominated | |
| National Board of Review | Spotlight Award | John Goodman, also for Argo, ParaNorman, and Trouble with the Curve | Won |
| Online Film Critics Society Award | Best Actor | Denzel Washington | Nominated |
| Palm Springs International Film Festival Award | Director of the Year | Robert Zemeckis | Won |
| Satellite Award | Best Actor – Motion Picture | Denzel Washington | Nominated |
| Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture | John Goodman | Nominated | |
| Best Screenplay, Original | John Gatins | Nominated | |
| Best Visual Effects | Jim Gibbs, Kevin Baillie, Michael Lantieri and Ryan Tudhope | Won | |
| Best Editing | Jeremiah O'Driscoll | Nominated | |
| Best Sound (Editing & Mixing) | Dennis Leonard, Dennis Sands, Randy Thom and William Kaplan | Nominated | |
| Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role | Denzel Washington | Nominated |
| St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association | Best Actor | Nominated | |
| Best Scene (favorite movie scene or sequence) | The plane crash | Nominated | |
| Visual Effects Society | Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture | Kevin Ballie, Michael Lantieri, Chris Stoski, Ryan Tudhope | Nominated |
| Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award | Best Actor | Denzel Washington | Nominated |
| Writers Guild of America Award | Best Original Screenplay | John Gatins | Nominated |
References
- Box Office Mojohttps://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=flight.htm
- Los Angeles Timeshttps://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-denzel-zemeckis-ca-flight-20121021,0,2869289.story
- The Hollywood Reporterhttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/robert-zemeckis-talks-live-action-180779
- Los Angeles Timeshttp://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/06/robert-zemeckis-flight-back-to-the-future-roger-rabbit.html
- Deadline Hollywoodhttps://deadline.com/2011/09/paramount-and-robert-zemeckis-eye-kelly-reilly-for-flight-lead-169753/
- "Exclusive: Cheadle, Greenwood join Zemeckis's Flight"https://web.archive.org/web/20140223020548/http://moviehole.net/201145716-exclusive-cheadle-greenwood-join-zemeckis-flight
- Deadline Hollywoodhttps://web.archive.org/web/20110930025624/http://www.deadline.com/2011/09/john-goodman-boards-paramounts-flight/
- The Hollywood Reporterhttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/melissa-leo-james-badge-dale-242728
- "Denzel Washington's "Flight" Is 12 Years In The Making"https://web.archive.org/web/20111006213914/http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/10/05/denzel-washingtons-flight-is-12-years-in-the-making/
- Los Angeles Timeshttps://web.archive.org/web/20121028003350/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-denzel-zemeckis-ca-flight-20121021,0,6995683,full.story
- "Aircraft Accident Report, Loss of Control and Impact with Pacific Ocean Alaska Airlines Flight 261 McDonnell Douglas MD-83, N963AS About 2.7 Miles [4.3 km] North of Anacapa Island, California, January 31, 2000"https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR0201.pdf
- Airliner World Magazinehttps://web.archive.org/web/20150630214631/http://www.airlinerworld.com/view_issue.asp?ID=4829
- Airwayshttp://scrogginsaviation.com/airliner-world-magazine-featured-april-2013-issue-2/
- The Hollywood Reporterhttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/film-review-denzel-washingtons-flight-378838
- Flight at Rotten Tomatoes Fandangohttps://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flight_2012
- Metacritichttps://www.metacritic.com/movie/flight
- CinemaScorehttps://www.cinemascore.com/
- Flighthttps://web.archive.org/web/20121103223649/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20121031%2FREVIEWS%2F121039998
- Chicago Sun-Timeshttps://web.archive.org/web/20130117073833/http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2012/12/eberts_top_movies_of_2012.html
- Entertainment Weekly
- The Daily Beasthttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/18/real-pilots-laugh-at-flight.html
- ALPA News Release. Alpa.org (October 31, 2012). Retrieved July 13, 2013.http://www.alpa.org/portals/alpa/pressroom/pressreleases/2012/10-31-12_12.43.htm
- Real Pilots Laugh At ‘Flight’. The Daily Beast (November 18, 2012). Retrieved July 13, 2013.http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/18/real-pilots-laugh-at-flight.html
- Critics' Top10https://criticstop10.com/best-movies-of-2012/