Editing Saving Private Ryan (section)

==Release==
===Context===
{{see also|1998 in film}}

The 1998 summer theatrical season began in early May with ''Deep Impact'', a surprise box office hit that studios saw as a positive indicator for their upcoming 100 film releases.<ref name="NYTimesReel1"/><ref name="NYTimesSummerPreview"/> ''[[Godzilla (1998 film)|Godzilla]]'' and ''[[Armageddon (1998 film)|Armageddon]]'' were expected to be the biggest successes, while industry executives were hopeful for smaller budget films (costing less than $60{{nbsp}}million) like ''[[Small Soldiers]]'', ''[[The Negotiator]]'', ''[[The Parent Trap (1998 film)|The Parent Trap]]'', and ''[[There's Something About Mary]]'' to become sleeper hits. Fewer sequels and less escapist entertainment were scheduled for release, and more films were targeted toward older audiences.<ref name="NYTimesSummerPreview"/><ref name="NYTimesReel1"/><ref name="LATimes1998Producers"/>  ''Saving Private Ryan'' was highly anticipated but analysis suggested the film faced commercial limitations because of its long runtime, restricting the number of times it could be screened daily, and its violent content.<ref name="LATimes1998Producers"/><ref name="NYTimesSummerPreview"/><ref name="NYTimesReel1"/>  DreamWorks' marketing chief Terry Press said it was risky to release a serious drama in the summer, a time generally reserved for family and escapist entertainment, but this was offset by Spielberg and Hanks's popularity.<ref name="NYTimesJuly271998"/> A screening for DreamWorks and Paramount executives was highly praised,<ref name="NYTimesReelTWO"/> but Spielberg had low expectations, believing the film was too violent to attract broad audiences.{{sfn|Schickel|2012|p=189}}

===Box office===
The film premiered on July 21, 1998. The event was a low-profile affair without a party or many celebrities; Press said of the premiere, "it would have been inappropriate".<ref name="NYTimesPremiere"/> ''Saving Private Ryan'' was released in the United States and Canada on July 24, 1998.<ref name="LATimes1998Producers"/><ref name="BOMWeekendsList"/> During its opening weekend, it  earned $30.6{{nbsp}}million across 2,463 theaters—an average of $12,414 per theater.<ref name="BOMWeekendsList"/><ref name="LATimes1998Producers"/> This figure made it the number-one film of the weekend, ahead of ''[[The Mask of Zorro]]'' ($13.4{{nbsp}}million) in its second weekend, ''[[Lethal Weapon 4]]'' ($13.1{{nbsp}}million) in its third, and ''There's Something About Mary'' ($12.5{{nbsp}}million), also in its second.<ref name="BOMWeekend1Jul24"/><ref name="NYTimesJuly271998"/> The audience was split evenly between women and men, and skewed towards those aged over 25. ''[[The New York Times]]'' described it as unusual for a near-three-hour-long drama to perform so well on its opening weekend, crediting positive reviews. DreamWorks believed the box-office figure would have been higher if not for a delay in film prints arriving in hundreds of theaters across California and Arizona until late in the afternoon.<ref name="NYTimesJuly271998"/>

In its second weekend, ''Saving Private Ryan'' remained the number-one film, with $23.6{{nbsp}}million, ahead of the debuting ''The Parent Trap'' ($11.1{{nbsp}}million) and ''There's Something About Mary'' ($10.9{{nbsp}}million) in its third.<ref name="BOMWeekend2Jul31"/> ''Saving Private Ryan'' retained the number-one position in its third weekend with ($17.4{{nbsp}}million), ahead of the debuts of ''[[Snake Eyes (1998 film)|Snake Eyes]]'' ($16.3{{nbsp}}million) and ''[[Halloween H20: 20 Years Later]]'' ($16.1{{nbsp}}million), and its fourth with $13.2{{nbsp}}million, ahead of the debuts of ''[[How Stella Got Her Groove Back]]'' ($11.3{{nbsp}}million) and ''[[The Avengers (1998 film)|The Avengers]]'' ($10.3{{nbsp}}million).<ref name="BOMWeekend3JAug7"/><ref name="BOMWeekend4Aug14"/> In its fifth weekend, ''Saving Private Ryan'' fell to number{{nbsp}}2 with $10.1{{nbsp}}million, behind the debut of ''[[Blade (1998 film)|Blade]]'' ($17.1{{nbsp}}million).<ref name="BOMWeekend5Aug21"/> Without regaining the number{{nbsp}}1 position, it ranked among the top ten for 12 weeks.<ref name="BOMWeekendsList"/> By the end of its theatrical run, ''Saving Private Ryan'' earned a total box-office gross of $216.5{{nbsp}}million, making it the highest-grossing film of the year, ahead of ''Armageddon'' ($201.6{{nbsp}}million) and ''There's Something About Mary'' ($176.5{{nbsp}}million).<ref name="BOM1998DOMESTIC"/><ref name="FarOutIntentions"/> This also made it only the third R-rated film to earn more than $200{{nbsp}}million, after 1984's ''[[Beverly Hills Cop]]'' ($235{{nbsp}}million) and 1991's ''[[Terminator 2: Judgment Day]]'' ($205{{nbsp}}million).<ref name="LATimesRRatedHighest"/>

Outside of the U.S. and Canada, ''Saving Private Ryan'' is estimated to have earned a further $265.3{{nbsp}}million. This gave the film a cumulative worldwide gross of $481.8{{nbsp}}million, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 1998, behind ''Armageddon'' ($553.7{{nbsp}}million).<ref name="BOMWORLDWIDE1998"/><ref name="FarOutIntentions"/>{{efn-lr|The 1998 theatrical box office gross of $481.8{{nbsp}}million  is equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|481800000|1998}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}.}}

''Saving Private Ryan'' was seen as the biggest success of the theatrical summer. ''The New York Times'' wrote that the success of a "prestige film" during a time of blockbuster entertainment with broad appeal was evidence that audiences were accepting of serious dramas alongside action films, such as ''Armageddon'' and ''Godzilla'', and "gross-out comedy" like ''There's Something About Mary''. The publication wrote that the popularity of ''Saving Private Ryan'' was, in part, because it depicted a "nobler, cleaner era" promoting values of heroism and "patriotic duty".<ref name="NYTimesSumRevSep98"/> The 1998 box office broke records with over $7{{nbsp}}billion earned. Despite expectations, the biggest successes had relatively modest budgets, such as ''Saving Private Ryan'', ''There's Something About Mary'', ''[[Rush Hour (1998 film)|Rush Hour]]'', and ''[[The Waterboy]]'', while the anticipated blockbusters, such as ''Godzilla'' and ''Armageddon'', were so expensive to make that they were less profitable.<ref name="NYTimesDecember98"/> Re-releases of ''Saving Private Ryan'' have raised the box office to $482.3{{nbsp}}million.<ref name="BOMAllReleases"/> Spielberg's and Hanks's pay agreement earned them an estimated $30–$40 million each of the box office.<ref name="LATimes1998Producers"/><ref name="NYTimesJuly271998"/><ref name="EWHanksPayDay"/>