Poster © DreamWorks Distribution LLC. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreAdventure, Comedy & Drama
RatedR
Runtime2 hr 2 mins
ReleasedSeptember 15, 2000
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorCameron Crowe
StarringBilly Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson
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Almost Famous (2000)
| ▶Stream It | ★The Numbers |
| 🎫Get Tickets | ✎Edit History |
| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| Almost Famous's Details | |
| Genre | Adventure, Comedy & Drama |
| Rated | R |
| Released | 09/08/2000 (TIFF); 09/15/2000 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 2 hr 2 mins |
| Budget | $60M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Almost Famous's Interests | |
| General | Tour buses, backstage passes, vinyl records, hotel lobbies, reporter's notebooks, 1973 in general. |
| Music | Nancy Wilson of Heart, and the 'Tiny Dancer' bus singalong is the whole moment. |
| Movies | Jerry Maguire (1996). Same director, way more football. |
| Television | Daisy Jones & The Six. Seventies rock drama, same great hair. |
| Heroes | Lester Bangs. Gives a fifteen-year-old the best career advice in rock history. |
| Almost Famous's Crew | |
| Director | Cameron Crowe |
| Writers | Cameron Crowe |
| Producers | Cameron Crowe, Ian Bryce |
| Cinematography | John Toll |
| Music | Nancy Wilson |
| Edited By | Joe Hutshing, Saar Klein |
| Production | DreamWorks Pictures, Vinyl Films |
| Distributed By | DreamWorks Distribution LLC (United States and Canada), Columbia Pictures (through Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International; International) |
A busload of feuding rock musicians gets saved by an Elton John song, and that one scene is the whole argument for this movie. Cameron Crowe loves rock so much he lets his rock stars off easy. Russell Hammond is the guitarist everybody keeps calling a genius, and Billy Crudup plays him with so much charm that you barely notice he’s a flake who never says what he means. Patrick Fugit’s William is a polite, wide-eyed kid stuck in the middle, taking notes. Kate Hudson’s Penny Lane is warm and a little heartbreaking, and Frances McDormand as his worried mom gets every laugh she goes for. Philip Seymour Hoffman shows up for a few scenes as Lester Bangs and owns every one. It made $47.4 million worldwide on a reported $60M, and too few people showed up. An 8.7 because it’s the warmest movie ever made about the music business, even when it goes too easy on the band. $937 says you put on Tiny Dancer during your next road trip and get offended when nobody joins the chorus.
What works: The tour bus singalong, Frances McDormand’s worried mom and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s few scenes as Lester Bangs are all perfect.
What doesn’t: The movie is so in love with rock stars that it lets Russell off easy, and William stays more of a witness than a character.
Who it’s for: Anyone who’s ever loved a band a little too much, or tried to write about something they were way too close to.
Spoilers
Rolling Stone loves William’s story until the band denies everything and the magazine drops it. Russell finally calls the magazine and confirms it all, Stillwater makes the cover, and Russell shows up at William’s house for the real interview.
It's 1973, and William Miller (Patrick Fugit) is a fifteen-year-old in San Diego writing about rock for anyone who will print it. His mother Elaine (Frances McDormand), a college professor, considers rock music a menace. Legendary critic Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman) gives the kid a shot anyway. Then Rolling Stone hires him to go on tour with Stillwater, a rising band whose lead guitarist, Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup), is the real story. On the road he meets Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), the most magnetic superfan in rock. Cameron Crowe based it on his own teenage years. One hundred twenty-two minutes, one tour bus.
Anyone who is uncool and proud of it. Lester would approve.
| Billy Crudup | Russell Hammond |
| Frances McDormand | Elaine Miller |
| Kate Hudson | Penny Lane |
| Jason Lee | Jeff Bebe |
| Patrick Fugit | William Miller |
| Anna Paquin | Polexia Aphrodisia |
| Fairuza Balk | Sapphire |
| Noah Taylor | Dick Roswell |
| Philip Seymour Hoffman | Lester Bangs |
| Zooey Deschanel | Anita Miller |
| Jimmy Fallon | Dennis Hope |
| Bijou Phillips | Estrella Starr |
| Terry Chen | Ben Fong-Torres |
| Jay Baruchel | Vic Munoz |
| Rainn Wilson | David Felton |
| Mark Kozelek | Larry Fellows |
| Liz Stauber | Leslie Hammond |
| Zack Ward | the Legendary Red Dog |
| John Fedevich | Ed Vallencourt |
| Pauley Perrette | Alice Wisdom |
| Eric Stonestreet | Sheldon the desk clerk |
| Marc Maron | angry promoter |
| Jann Wenner | taxi passenger |
| Peter Frampton | Reg |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 18 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 7.9 / 10 (318,509 votes) → 7.9 / 10 (318,521 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +480 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $47.4M; Domestic box office $32.5M; Opening weekend $2.3M; Profit / loss (est.) -$66.3M; Rotten Tomatoes 91%; CinemaScore A−; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 91% (229 reviews); Metacritic 90 / 100; CinemaScore A−; IMDb users 7.9 / 10 (318,509 votes); movie.guru score 8.8.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.