THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS Returns to Theaters in 4K Restoration

Universal Pictures will celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Sugarland Express, the 1974 theatrical debut of legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg. Since the release of The Sugarland Express, Spielberg has transformed American filmmaking across five decades. His three Academy Awards®—Best Director and Best Picture for Schindler’s List and Best Director for Saving Private Ryan—represent only a fraction of his impact. With 23 Oscar® nominations, including a record-setting 13 Best Picture nominations, Spielberg’s work has revolutionized cinema, establishing him as one of the most influential, critically acclaimed and commercially successful directors in history. 

Following its acclaimed premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and subsequent nomination for an HPA (Hollywood Professional Association) Award for Outstanding Achievement in Restoration, The Sugarland Express returns to theaters in stunning 4K, beginning with a special screening at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Sunday, December 1, 2024, at 2:30 p.m. pacific, followed by a nationwide theatrical release beginning December 8, 2024.

The Sugarland Express launched the extraordinary partnership between Spielberg and composer John Williams—the first of nearly 30 collaborations that would create one of the most significant artistic partnerships of all time. Williams, whose five Academy Awards® and 54 nominations make him the most Oscar®-nominated living person, went on to score nearly every Spielberg feature over the next five decades, creating iconic themes for Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, and dozens of other landmark films that have defined modern cinema.

Co-written and directed by Spielberg at age 26, The Sugarland Express is inspired by a real-life story and stars Academy Award® winner Goldie Hawn as Lou Jean, a determined mother who helps her husband, Clovis (William Atherton), escape from prison to reclaim their child from foster care. Their desperate plan quickly unravels when they hijack a patrol car and take a state trooper (Michael Sacks) hostage, igniting a high-stakes police chase across Texas. As the manhunt intensifies, the couple’s attempt to reunite their family spirals into a national spectacle, with the media casting them as unlikely symbols of defiance. The film also stars Oscar® winner Ben Johnson, Gregory Walcott and Louise Latham.

The Sugarland Express united Spielberg with his future Jaws producers Oscar® nominee David Brown and Oscar® winner Richard D. Zanuck. The screenplay by Matthew Robbins and Hal Barwood is based on a story by Barwood and Spielberg. Behind the camera, future Spielberg collaborators included cinematographer and Academy Award® nominee Vilmos Zsigmond (Close Encounters of the Third Kind), art director and Academy Award® nominee Joe Alves (Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and editor and Academy Award® winner Verna Fields (Jaws). 

Tickets for the event are available now and can be purchased here. Tickets for the theatrical re-release can be purchased here. The 4K restoration is available from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and Digital.