Poster © 20th Century Fox. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreAction, Adventure & Sci-Fi
RatedPG-13
Runtime2 hr 4 mins
ReleasedMay 28, 2004
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorRoland Emmerich
StarringDennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ian Holm
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The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
| ▶Stream It | ★The Numbers |
| 🎫Get Tickets | ✎Edit History |
| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| The Day After Tomorrow's Details | |
| Genre | Action, Adventure & Sci-Fi |
| Rated | PG-13 |
| Released | 05/17/2004 (Mexico City); 05/28/2004 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 2 hr 4 mins |
| Budget | $125M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Based On | The Coming Global Superstorm by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| The Day After Tomorrow's Interests | |
| General | Ocean currents, ice shelves, weather buoys, really big hail, the New York Public Library. |
| Music | Harald Kloser. Big, sweeping and extremely cold. |
| Movies | 2012 (2009). Emmerich ends the world again, this time with volcanoes. |
| Television | The local weather report. The anchor has never looked this nervous. |
| Heroes | Sam Hall. Quiz team captain who actually listens to his dad. |
| The Day After Tomorrow's Crew | |
| Director | Roland Emmerich |
| Writers | Roland Emmerich, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, Roland Emmerich (story) |
| Producers | Mark Gordon, Roland Emmerich |
| Cinematography | Ueli Steiger |
| Music | Harald Kloser |
| Edited By | David Brenner |
| Production | Centropolis Entertainment, Lions Gate Films, The Mark Gordon Company |
| Distributed By | 20th Century Fox |
What if the weather had a personal grudge against landmarks? That’s the whole pitch, and Roland Emmerich commits to it like science is more of a suggestion. Tornadoes tear up Los Angeles, hail the size of fists pounds Tokyo, and the human story running alongside all that is a high school academic competition and a crush. Dennis Quaid plays a climate scientist whose main job is being right in increasingly cold rooms. Jake Gyllenhaal is earnest enough to almost sell it. Ian Holm, stuck at a research station in Scotland, gives the only performance that feels like it came from a person instead of a trailer. The destruction is a blast, honestly. Every time the movie stops smashing cities, it gets very quiet and very dumb. It pulled $552 million worldwide on a reported $125 million budget, so people clearly showed up for the smashing. A 4.6 because the effects are fun and the brain is on vacation. $2,517 says you check your weather app twice tomorrow for absolutely no reason.
What works: The early disaster set pieces are a blast, and Ian Holm brings real weight to every scene he’s in.
What doesn’t: The science is pure fantasy, and the human drama, mostly an academic competition and a crush, is thinner than the ice it keeps showing.
Who it’s for: People who watch disaster movies for the destruction and fast forward through the feelings.
Spoilers
Jack makes it to New York and finds Sam and a few survivors alive in the public library, where they burned books to keep warm. The storm finally breaks, and the vice president, now running things from Mexico, goes on TV to admit he was wrong.
Climate scientist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) nearly drops into a crack in the Antarctic ice, then tries to warn world leaders that the ocean currents could flip the weather fast. Nobody wants to hear it. Then Professor Terry Rapson (Ian Holm) in Scotland sees his ocean buoys going haywire, Tokyo gets hail the size of softballs, and tornadoes rip through Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Jack's son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal) is in New York for an academic competition with his crush Laura (Emmy Rossum), right as the sky turns. Roland Emmerich directs. One hundred twenty-three minutes, and nobody packed a coat.
Anyone who checks the forecast twice. Bring a parka and a library card.
| Dennis Quaid | Jack Hall |
| Jake Gyllenhaal | Sam Hall |
| Sela Ward | Dr. Lucy Hall |
| Emmy Rossum | Laura Chapman |
| Ian Holm | Terry Rapson |
| Arjay Smith | Brian Parks |
| Austin Nichols | J.D |
| Dash Mihok | Jason Evans |
| Jay O. Sanders | Frank Harris |
| Kenneth Welsh | Raymond Becker |
| Perry King | Richard Blake |
| Nestor Serrano | Tom Gomez |
| Tamlyn Tomita | Janet Tokada |
| Glenn Plummer | Luther |
| Adrian Lester | Simon |
| Richard McMillan | Dennis |
| Sasha Roiz | Parker |
| Christopher Britton | Vorsteen |
| Amy Sloan | Elsa |
| Sheila McCarthy | Judith |
| Tom Rooney | Jeremy |
| Christian Tessier | Aaron |
| Mimi Kuzyk | the Secretary of State |
| Chuck Shamata | Army General Pierce |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 18 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 6.5 / 10 (518,839 votes) → 6.5 / 10 (518,885 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +480 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $552.6M; Domestic box office $186.7M; Opening weekend $68.7M; Profit / loss (est.) +$88.8M; Rotten Tomatoes 46%; CinemaScore B; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 46% (219 reviews); Metacritic 47 / 100; CinemaScore B; IMDb users 6.5 / 10 (518,839 votes); movie.guru score 4.0.
- (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.