12 Years a Slave (2013) 

 

Release date: November 8, 2013

Director: Steve McQueen

Writer(s): John Ridley (screenplay), Solomon Northup (based on "Twelve Years a Slave" by)

Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita N'yongo

Estimated budget: $20 million

U.S. Box office: $56,671,993 

Foreign: $131,061,209

Worldwide: $187,733,202

 

In the years before the Civil War, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South. Subjected to the cruelty of one malevolent owner (Michael Fassbender), he also finds unexpected kindness from another, as he struggles continually to survive and maintain some of his dignity. Then in the 12th year of the disheartening ordeal, a chance meeting with an abolitionist from Canada changes Solomon's life forever.