# Eagle Eye
**Eagle Eye** is a 2008 American techno-thriller film directed by D.J. Caruso, in which two strangers, Jerry Shaw ([Shia LaBeouf](https://www.edgepedia.org/shia-labeouf)) and Rachel Holloman ([Michelle Monaghan](https://www.edgepedia.org/michelle-monaghan)), are coerced by a mysterious woman on the phone into carrying out criminal acts, using everyday technology to track and control their movements.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64629-EAGLE-EYE) • [2](https://amblin.com/movie/eagle-eye/) It was produced by K/O for DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount, released on September 26, 2008, and grossed about $180 million worldwide on an $80 million budget.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64629-EAGLE-EYE) • [3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Eagle-Eye)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | September 26, 2008 (Los Angeles and New York openings that week); PG-13; 118 minutes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64629-EAGLE-EYE) |
| Director and writers | D.J. Caruso; screenplay by John Glenn, Travis Adam Wright, Hillary Seitz, and Dan McDermott[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64629-EAGLE-EYE) |
| Producers | Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Patrick Crowley; Steven Spielberg executive producer and originator of the story[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64629-EAGLE-EYE) • [4](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/eagle-eye) |
| Lead cast | Shia LaBeouf (Jerry Shaw), Michelle Monaghan (Rachel Holloman), Rosario Dawson (Zoe Perez), Michael Chiklis (Defense Secretary Callister), Billy Bob Thornton (Agent Thomas Morgan)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64629-EAGLE-EYE) • [4](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/eagle-eye) |
| Box office | $178.8 million worldwide on an $80 million budget, with $101.4 million from the US and Canada and $77.3 million international[5](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/movies/eagle-eye) |
| Ratings | IMDb 6.6/10 (203,000 votes); Rotten Tomatoes 27%; Metacritic 43[5](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/movies/eagle-eye) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1059786/ratings) |
| Formats | Shot with an IMAX DMR digital re-mastering release; video release December 28, 2008 by Paramount Home Video[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Eagle-Eye) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Jerry Shaw is a young slacker whose successful twin brother dies in a mysterious accident.[7](https://smile.kritiker.se/film/eagle-eye/) He and Rachel Holloman, a single mother, are thrown together by phone calls from a woman they have never met, who threatens their lives and families and pushes them into increasingly dangerous situations using the technology of everyday life to track and control their every move.[2](https://amblin.com/movie/eagle-eye/) As events escalate, the two become the country's most-wanted fugitives and must work out what is happening to them.[8](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/eagle-eye) The Independent's Anthony Quinn described the premise as a wrong-man conspiracy thriller in which Jerry, a photocopy shop assistant, is framed as a terrorist and goes on the run, while the US military is being sabotaged from within by a HAL-like super-computer named Eagle Eye.[9](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/eagle-eye-12a-963902.html)
The film opens in [Baluchistan](https://www.edgepedia.org/baluchistan), where the US military monitors suspicious vehicles in pursuit of a possibly high-value target. A drone identifies audio with a 37 percent match to the target's voice patterns and a photo with 51 percent similarity to known data; despite video feeds showing a funeral, military leaders push for a strike while Defense Secretary Callister hesitates over collateral damage and the uncertain identification.[5](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/movies/eagle-eye)
## Origins and development
The idea was conceived by executive producer [Steven Spielberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-spielberg) roughly a decade before release. His initial concept centered on the thought that technology is everywhere: what would happen if the technology people love and depend on suddenly turned against them and was completely out of their control.[10](https://emanuellevy.com/interviews/eagle-eye-from-spielbergs-concept-to-carusos-execution-6/) Spielberg wanted audiences to leave the theater and turn off their cell phones and BlackBerrys out of fear, much as audiences feared swimming after *Jaws* in 1975.[10](https://emanuellevy.com/interviews/eagle-eye-from-spielbergs-concept-to-carusos-execution-6/)
The story stayed in development for years because Spielberg initially thought it would seem too much like science fiction.[10](https://emanuellevy.com/interviews/eagle-eye-from-spielbergs-concept-to-carusos-execution-6/) When the project gained momentum about two years before release, Spielberg planned to direct it himself, but passed when *Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull* finally came together. As executive producer of *Disturbia*, he saw a rough cut of that film and quickly tapped Caruso to direct.[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-sep-07-ca-eagle7-story.html) The film reunited Caruso with LaBeouf, taking *[Disturbia](https://www.edgepedia.org/disturbia-film)*'s homage to Hitchcock's *Rear Window* to the larger scale of *North by Northwest* for an era of electronic surveillance.[2](https://amblin.com/movie/eagle-eye/)
Producers [Roberto Orci](https://www.edgepedia.org/roberto-orci) and [Alex Kurtzman](https://www.edgepedia.org/alex-kurtzman), part of the writing team on *Transformers*, said they found inspiration in news coverage of the war on terrorism, and that exploring the subject left them somewhat rattled.[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-sep-07-ca-eagle7-story.html) Caruso said Spielberg told him early on that, just as *Jaws* made people afraid to go into the water, *Eagle Eye* should make people afraid to use their iPhone or BlackBerry.[12](https://www.cineman.ch/en/interview/eagle-eye-d-j-caruso/576/)
## Production
The production company was K/O, with distribution by [DreamWorks Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/dreamworks-pictures) and DreamWorks/Paramount.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64629-EAGLE-EYE) Dariusz Wolski was the cinematographer, Tom Sanders the production designer, Jim Page the editor, and [Brian Tyler](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-tyler) composed the score.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64629-EAGLE-EYE) • [2](https://amblin.com/movie/eagle-eye/) The film was released in an IMAX DMR format alongside standard screens.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Eagle-Eye) The British Board of Film Classification classified the 2D version at 113 minutes and the 2D IMAX version at 118 minutes 26 seconds, noting frequent moderate action violence including chase sequences, gunfights, and car crashes, and one use of strong language.[13](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/eagle-eye-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc00mtc2mzq)
Animal action was monitored by the American Humane Society's "No Animals Were Harmed" program, covering K-9 dogs at an airport scene and a donkey, goats, sheep, horses, and dogs in a desert scene. The film does not carry the American Humane disclaimer at the end because the production did not give the organization a pre-release screening, one of the requirements for issuing the disclaimer.[14](https://www.americanhumane.org/production/eagle-eye/)
## Reception and box office
Audiences responded far more favorably than critics. The film earned 27 percent on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer against a 62 percent Popcornmeter score, 43 on Metacritic, and 6.6/10 on IMDb from about 203,000 votes.[5](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/movies/eagle-eye) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1059786/ratings) Quinn's review in *The Independent* called it "portentous nonsense, and loud with it," criticizing Caruso's appetite for car pile-ups and explosions.[9](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/eagle-eye-12a-963902.html)
Commercially, the film grossed $178.8 million worldwide on an $80 million production budget, about 2.2 times its cost, with $101.4 million from the US and Canada and $77.3 million (43 percent) from the rest of the world.[5](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/movies/eagle-eye) The Numbers records slightly different figures: $101,440,743 domestic, $79,144,516 international, and $180,585,259 worldwide, with an opening weekend of $29,150,721, or 28.7 percent of the total gross.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Eagle-Eye) Estimated domestic DVD sales added $39,476,603.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Eagle-Eye)
## Home media and streaming
Paramount Home Video released the film on video on December 28, 2008.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Eagle-Eye) As of recent availability checks, it streams in the United States on Paramount+, fuboTV, MGM Plus, and Philo, and can be rented or bought on Apple TV+ and Fandango At Home.[15](https://www.wherecaniwatch.tv/watch/eagle-eye-2008-13027)
## References
1. [Eagle Eye (2008), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/64629-EAGLE-EYE)
2. [Eagle Eye (2008) – About the Movie, Amblin](https://amblin.com/movie/eagle-eye/)
3. [Eagle Eye (2008) – Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Eagle-Eye)
4. [Eagle Eye, Paramount Pictures](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/eagle-eye)
5. [Eagle Eye (2008) – Cast, Ratings, Box Office & Runtime, What's After the Movie](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/movies/eagle-eye)
6. [Eagle Eye (2008) – Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1059786/ratings)
7. [Eagle Eye (2008), Kritiker](https://smile.kritiker.se/film/eagle-eye/)
8. [Eagle Eye streaming: where to watch movie online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/eagle-eye)
9. [Eagle eye (12A) review, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/eagle-eye-12a-963902.html)
10. [Eagle Eye: From Spielberg's Concept to Caruso's Execution, Emanuel Levy](https://emanuellevy.com/interviews/eagle-eye-from-spielbergs-concept-to-carusos-execution-6/)
11. [Yes, they're watching, Los Angeles Times (September 7, 2008)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-sep-07-ca-eagle7-story.html)
12. [Interview – Eagle Eye – D.J. Caruso, Cineman](https://www.cineman.ch/en/interview/eagle-eye-d-j-caruso/576/)
13. [Eagle Eye, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/eagle-eye-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc00mtc2mzq)
14. [Eagle Eye (2008) – Detailed Animal Action Report, American Humane Society](https://www.americanhumane.org/production/eagle-eye/)
15. [Where to watch Eagle Eye (2008), WhereCanIWatch.tv](https://www.wherecaniwatch.tv/watch/eagle-eye-2008-13027)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2005–2009 films › Released 2008 to 2009*
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