Eureka (1983 film)

Eureka
British quad poster
Directed byNicolas Roeg
Written byPaul Mayersberg
Based onWho Killed Sir Harry Oakes?
by Marshall Houts
Produced byJeremy Thomas
Starring
CinematographyAlex Thomson
Edited byTony Lawson
Music byStanley Myers
Production
companies
Recorded Picture Company
JF Productions
Sunley Productions
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release dates
  • May 5, 1983 (1983-05-05) (London)
  • October 5, 1984 (1984-10-05) (U.S.)
Running time
130 minutes
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$11 million
Box office$123,572

Eureka is a 1983 psychological drama film directed by Nicolas Roeg, and starring Gene Hackman, Rutger Hauer, Theresa Russell, Mickey Rourke, and Joe Pesci. It follows the life of a Klondike prospector who becomes one of the world's wealthiest men after striking gold in 1925, but, 20 years on, fears that he is being preyed upon by his daughter and her social-climbing husband, as well as a mobster attempting to usurp the Caribbean island he owns. The screenplay is loosely based on the unsolved murder of Sir Harry Oakes in the Bahamas in 1943.

Eureka was filmed in 1982 in England, the United States, Canada, and Jamaica, on a budget of $11 million. It received a theatrical release in England in May 1983, though its distributor, United Artists, temporarily shelved the film from release in the United States, as they were unsure how to properly market it to the public. Furthermore, it was granted an X rating in the United States for its graphic depictions of violence. It was eventually given a limited release in Los Angeles in the fall of 1984. The film was a box-office bomb, and received mixed reviews from critics.