Bridge of Spies

Bridge of Spies is a 2015 historical drama film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg, written by Matt Charman and the Coen brothers, and starring Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, and Alan Alda. Set during the Cold War, the film tells the story of lawyer James B. Donovan, who is entrusted with negotiating the release of Francis Gary Powers—a U.S. Air Force pilot whose U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960—in exchange for Rudolf Abel, a convicted Soviet KGB spy held by the United States, whom Donovan represented at trial. The name of the film refers to the Glienicke Bridge, which connects Potsdam with Berlin, where the prisoner exchange took place. The film was an international co-production of the United States and Germany.

Bridge of Spies was shot under the working title of St. James Place. Principal photography began on September 8, 2014, in Brooklyn, New York City, and the production proceeded at Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam. The film was released by Touchstone Pictures on October 16, 2015, in the United States and distributed by 20th Century Fox in other countries. It received critical acclaim for its screenplay, the performances of Hanks and Rylance, Spielberg's direction, Thomas Newman's musical score, and the production values. The film was a box office success, grossing $165 million worldwide on a $40 million budget, and received six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, and won Best Supporting Actor for Rylance.