Synopsis
A high school prodigy builds an atomic bomb with stolen plutonium to win the 45th National Science Fair and expose a nuclear weapons lab posing as a nuclear medical research facility in Ithaca, NY.
Scores
Overall Score
43.1
Popularity Percentile (Year)
46.9%
Box Office Percentile (Year)
33.6%
Review Aggregate
51.0
Critic Consensus
Critic reception is mixed, with 62% of 8 logged reviews marked Fresh. Across reviews, critics repeatedly emphasize character-driven, funny, suspenseful. Common reservations focus on execution consistency, even when reviewers praise standout elements.
character-drivenfunnysuspensefulemotionalvisually strikingthought-provoking
Cast
| Cast | Year | Reported Salary | Inflation Adjusted | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Lithgow | 1986 | $1,732,000 | $4,956,000 | (est) |
| Christopher Collet | 1986 | $1,066,000 | $3,051,000 | (est) |
| Cynthia Nixon | 1986 | $803,000 | $2,297,000 | (est) |
Aggregated Reviews
Rotten Tomatoes critic score50.0
RT critic review count18
Rotten Tomatoes audience score45.0
RT audience rating count5,000
IMDb rating6.1
IMDb votes7,318
Box Office ?
| Category | Year | Reported | Inflation Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | 1986 | $3,900,000 | $11,162,682 |
| International | 1986 | N/A | N/A |
| Worldwide | 1986 | $3,900,000 | $11,162,682 |
Earnings / Profitability
| Category | Year | Reported | Inflation Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenues | |||
| Theatrical Net Revenue | 1986 | $1,950,000 | $5,581,341 |
| Digital Rentals ? | 1986 | N/A | N/A |
| Digital Purchases ? | 1986 | N/A | N/A |
| Physical Rentals ? | 1986 | $7,215,000 | $20,650,963 |
| Physical Purchases ? | 1986 | $3,098,000 | $8,867,177 |
| TV & Streaming Revenue | 1986 | $936,000 | $2,679,044 |
| Total Revenues | 1986 | $13,199,000 | $37,778,525 |
| Expenses | |||
| Budget ? | 1986 | $18,000,000 | $51,520,073 |
| Print & Advertising (P&A) ? | 1986 | $2,214,000 (est) | $6,336,969 (est) |
| Participations | 1986 | $264,000 | $755,628 |
| Residuals ? | 1986 | $799,000 | $2,286,919 |
| Interest & Overhead | 1986 | $3,600,000 | $10,304,015 |
| Total Expenses | 1986 | $24,877,000 | $71,203,603 |
| Movie Net Profit or Loss | 1986 | $-11,678,000 | $-33,425,078 |
Similar Movies
| Poster | Movie | Year | Match | Overall | Est. Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Inception | 2010 | Shared genres: 2 | 97.5 | $139,371,766 |
 | Jurassic Park | 1993 | Shared genres: 2 | 97.4 | $409,387,755 |
 | Logan | 2017 | Shared genres: 2 | 97.1 | $78,337,860 |
 | Captain America: The Winter Soldier | 2014 | Shared genres: 2 | 96.9 | $43,188,899 |
 | Aliens | 1986 | Shared genres: 2 | 96.9 | $60,886,182 |