| The Fan | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Tony Scott |
| Screenplay by | Phoef Sutton |
| Based on | The Fan byPeter Abrahams |
| Produced by | Wendy Finerman |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Dariusz Wolski |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | Hans Zimmer |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by |
|
Release date |
|
Running time | 116 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $55 million[2] |
| Box office | $42 million[3] |
The Fan is a 1996 Americansportspsychological thriller film directed byTony Scott and starringRobert De Niro andWesley Snipes, based onthe 1995 novel byPeter Abrahams. The film received generally negative reviews from critics and was abox-office flop. Over time, the direction, the performances and the score have been praised.[4][5][6][7]
Gil Renard is a troubledbaseball fan whose favorite team, theSan Francisco Giants, have just signed a $40 million contract with his favorite player, Bobby Rayburn. His ex-wife Ellen obtains arestraining order to keep him away from herself and their son after Gil leaves his son to attend a sales meeting, but finds that his client is at a baseball game. Gil is fired from his job as a knife salesman when he insults a prospective customer.
Gil begins obsessing over Rayburn. When Rayburn suffers a chest injury that causes fans to be upset by his underperformance, Gil antagonizes fans who jeer him. Rayburn has also been in an open conflict with teammate Juan Primo due to both men wanting to keep jersey number 11, culminating in a physical fight. Gil, thinking that Primo is to blame for Rayburn's performance, confronts him in a hotelsauna in an attempt to persuade him to let Rayburn have the number. Primo reveals his shoulder,branded with the number 11, and refuses. This leads to a struggle in which Gil fatally stabs Primo. After feeling guilty about Primo's death, Rayburn starts playing well again. Gil believes that what he did benefited Rayburn and the team.
Thinking that Rayburn does not acknowledge his fans, Gil goes to his beach house and saves his son Sean from drowning. Gil persuades Rayburn to play a friendly game of catch on the beach. Rayburn states that he stopped caring about the game after Primo's death because he felt that there were more important things in life. He also tells Gil that he has lost respect for the fans, remarking on their fickle nature—when he is hitting, they love him, but when he is not, they hate him. An angered Gil almost hits Rayburn with afastball and launches into a diatribe. Rayburn is disturbed, especially when Gil takes off his jacket to reveal Rayburn'suniform underneath and asks if he is happy that Primo's no longer around.
Rayburn soon discovers that Gil haskidnapped Sean and has left a piece of branded flesh from Primo's shoulder in the freezer. Disillusioned with Rayburn's disrespect toward the fans, Gil spirals further into insanity and acts as if Sean is his own son. He drives to see an old friend, Coop, a catcher with whom Gil has often spoken playing in his past. Coop tries to help Sean escape and reveals that the only time when he and Gil ever played together was inLittle League. Gil beats Coop to death with a baseball bat and takes Sean to a baseball field, hiding him there.
Gil contacts Rayburn to make one demand: hit ahome run in the upcoming game and dedicate it to Gil, or else he will kill his son. With the police on high alert, Gil entersCandlestick Park in the midst of an on-and-off thunderstorm. Rayburn struggles with his emotions while at bat. After several pitches, he finally hits the ball deep into the outfield but not over the fence. Rayburn attempts to score an inside-the-park home run. He is called out, although he is obviously safe. Rayburn argues with theumpire, who turns out to be Gil in disguise.
Rayburn knocks Gil to the ground. Dozens of cops and Giants players swarm onto the field and confront Gil. Before the cops arrive, Gil stabs another player, Lanz, who tries to tackle him, as well as Rayburn. Despite warnings from the police, Gil goes into an exaggerated pitching motion with the knife in hand. He asks Rayburn if he cares about baseball, then assumes that he cares "just a little bit". Rayburn desperately asks Gil where Sean is, but Gil nonchalantly says that he is in the "big stadium in the sky". Gil is shot dead as he is about to throw the knife. Police discover Sean at the Little League field, named the Stadium in the Sky, where Gil once played in his childhood. They uncover his obsession with Rayburn, as hundreds of newspaper clippings adorn his hideout. A picture on the wall shows Gil in his past glory, playing Little League baseball and winning a championship game.
 | This articleis missing information about the film's production. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(May 2025) |
According to director Tony Scott,Brad Pitt,Al Pacino andWesley Snipes wanted to play the role of Gil.[8]
| The Fan: Music from the Motion Picture | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Released | August 20, 1996 |
| Recorded | 1996 |
| Genre | Electronic,hip hop,rock |
| Length | 68:51 |
| Label | TVT |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [9] |
The Fan is the soundtrack to the 1996 filmThe Fan. It was released on August 20, 1996, throughTVT Records and is a combination of electronic and hip hop music.
The film grossed $18,626,419 in theUnited States andCanada. The opening weekend was $6,271,406 and it dropped 47.2% the subsequent weekend.[10] Internationally, it grossed $23.6 million, for a worldwide total of $42.2 million.[3]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(October 2025) |
OnRotten Tomatoes,The Fan has an approval rating of 37%, based on reviews from 30 critics. The website's critics' consensus states: "Tony Scott's visceral flash proves to be an ill fit forThe Fan, a queasy tale of obsession that succeeds at making audiences uncomfortable, but strikes out when it comes to delivering the thrills."[11] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 32 out of 100, based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[12] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film a grade "B−" on a scale of A+ to F.[13]