Inception (film)
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Inception
A man in a suit with a gun in his right hand is flanked by five other individuals in the middle of a street which, behind them, is folded upwards. Leonardo DiCaprio's name and those of other cast members are shown above the words "YOUR MIND IS THE SCENE OF THE CRIME". The title of the film "INCEPTION", film credits, and theatrical and IMAX release dates are shown at the bottom.
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Produced by Christopher Nolan
Emma Thomas
Written by Christopher Nolan
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio
Ken Watanabe
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Marion Cotillard
Ellen Page
Cillian Murphy
Tom Hardy
Dileep Rao
Tom Berenger
Michael Caine
Music by Hans Zimmer[1]
Cinematography Wally Pfister
Editing by Lee Smith
Studio Legendary Pictures
Syncopy Films
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s) July 8, 2010 (2010-07-08) (London premiere)
July 16, 2010 (United States)
Running time 148 minutes[2]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $160 million[3]
Gross revenue $818,136,750[4]

Inception is a 2010 American science fiction film written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao, Tom Berenger, and Michael Caine. DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a thief who extracts information from the unconscious mind of his victims while they dream. Unable to visit his children, Cobb is offered a chance to regain his old life in exchange for one last job: performing inception, the planting of an idea into the mind of his client's competitor.[5]

Development began roughly nine years before Inception was released. In 2001, Nolan wrote an 80-page treatment about dream-stealers, presenting the idea to Warner Bros. The story was originally written as a horror film, inspired by concepts of lucid dreaming and dream incubation.[6] The film also taps into psychological phenomenon like false memories and the Introspection illusion.

Feeling he needed to have more experience with large-scale films,[7] Nolan opted to work on Batman Begins, The Prestige and The Dark Knight. He spent six months polishing up the script for Inception before Warner Bros. purchased it in February 2009.[8] Filming spanned six countries and four continents, beginning in Tokyo on June 19, 2009 and finishing in Canada in late November of the same year. Composer Hans Zimmer scored the film, using parts of Edith Piaf's song Non, je ne regrette rien.

Inception was officially budgeted at $160 million, a cost that was split between Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures.[3] Nolan's reputation and success with The Dark Knight helped secure the film's $100 million in advertising expenditure.[3] Inception premiered in London on July 8, 2010 and was released in both conventional and IMAX theaters on July 14, 2010.[9][10] Released to critical acclaim, the film grossed over $21 million on its opening day, with an opening weekend gross of $62.7 million.[4] The DVD will be released on December 6, 2010.[