There Will Be Blood(2007)
Paramount Pictures- RRated R for some violence
- 2h 38m
Dec 26, 2007
A story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.
Note: Distributed by Paramount Vantage
Release Details
Original Release | Dec 26, 2007 | Wide
Release | Jan 25, 2008 | Moderate
Release | Feb 1, 2008 | Wide
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Box Office Results
All Releases (3)
$40,222,514
$36,209,961
$76,433,290
$40,222,514
$35,959,031
$76,181,545
Current Showtimes
orround
- Wed Aug 26
- Thu Aug 27
- Fri Aug 28
- Sat Aug 29
- Sun Aug 30
- Mon Aug 31
- Tue Sep 1
Director & Top Cast
Technical Specifications
Sound Mix: SDDS,Dolby Digital,DTS
Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1
Other Details
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English,American Sign Language
Summaries
Plot Summary
- In 1898, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), a prospector in New Mexico, mines a potentially precious ore vein from a pit mine hole. Daniel works alone, in the middle of the wilderness under brutal conditions. In the process of dynamiting the lode, he falls and breaks his leg. With the silver sample, he climbs out of the mine, drags himself to an assay office, and receives a silver and gold certificate claim. Daniel expands the mine and pours more resources into digging deeper for the ore.In 1902, he discovers oil near Los Angeles and establishes a drilling company. At first, the extracted oil is stored in a pit dug nearby, and Daniel designs his own oil rig to extract the oil. Following the death of a worker in an accident (the worker was in the oil well, when the rig being used to extract the oil collapsed on top of him), Daniel adopts the man's orphaned son. The child was barely a toddler, and Daniel mixes a little alcohol in milk to get the child to sleep.After a few years, Daniel refers to the child, H. W. (Dillon Freasier), as his business partner, which allows him to present himself to potential investors as a family man who wife died in childbirth. Daniel's oil well is already producing 2000 barrels a week, producing an income of $5000 every week. He has 2 more wells under development. Daniel approaches landowners who have recently discovered oil & says that he does not rely on contractors to do the drilling as he does his own drilling with his own men. Daniel says that normally, 1 in 20 prospectors have a chance to become oilmen, but with his connections and his knowledge, he says that he can start producing oil in under a week, once the leases are signed. He offers a 16.67% royalty on all income and a production linked bonus to the landowners.In 1911, Daniel is approached by Paul Sunday (Paul Dano), who tells him of an oil deposit under his family's property in Little Boston, California. Fletcher Hamilton (Ciaran Hinds) works with Daniel as his right-hand man. Paul also adds that Standard Oil is buying farms in the area and provides more data to convince Daniel that oil is indeed available underneath the property. Paul takes $600 to divulge this information and the address of his family ranch.Daniel travels to the property himself with HW, disguised as Quail hunters and campers. They camp on the Sunday ranch as Daniel conducts his surveys. Daniel finds evidence of oil on the surface and knows that there is a lot more underneath. Daniel plans to build a pipeline to the coast to transport the oil, so he is not wasting money on shipping costs.Daniel attempts to buy the farm at a bargain price of $3700 (as the family doesn't know that oil has been discovered on the property). However, Paul's twin brother Eli (Paul Dano) demands $10,000 for the church, of which he is pastor. Eli says that he knows the ranch has oil, which sits closer to the surface. An agreement is made for $5,000 after the well begins producing, and Daniel acquires all the available surrounding land, except for one holdout: William Bandy (Hans Howes).Oil production begins, but an accident kills a worker, and a gas blowout deafens H. W (Russell Harvard). Eli blames the disasters on the well not being properly blessed. Daniel refused Eli's offer to bless the well at its inauguration in front of the whole town. When Eli demands the $5,000 that Daniel still owes, Daniel beats and humiliates him. At the dinner table, Eli berates his father for trusting Daniel.A man arrives at Daniel's doorstep claiming to be his half-brother, Henry (Kevin J. O'Connor). Daniel hires Henry and the two grow close. H. W. sets fire to their house, intending to kill Henry. Angry, Daniel sends him away to a school for the deaf in San Francisco. A representative from Standard Oil offers to buy out Daniel's local interests, but Daniel strikes a deal with Union Oil and constructs a pipeline to the California coast, though the Bandy ranch remains an impediment.While reminiscing about his childhood, Daniel becomes suspicious about Henry's story and one night quizzes him about it at gunpoint. "Henry" confesses that he was a friend of the real Henry's, who died from tuberculosis, and that he learned the details of Henry's life by reading his personal journal. In a fit of rage, Daniel murders the impostor and buries his body.The next morning, Daniel is awakened by Bandy, who knows of the previous night's events and wants Daniel to repent. He also wants Daniel to baptize and that's the only way he will allow Daniel to build the pipeline. At the church, as part of Daniel's baptism, Eli humiliates him, strikes him, and makes him confess to having abandoned his son, before announcing to the congregation that Daniel will be making a large donation to the church. With the pipeline underway, Daniel arranges for the still angry H. W. to return, while Eli leaves town for missionary work.In 1927, H. W. marries Mary (Colleen Foy), Eli and Paul's sister. Daniel, now extremely wealthy but suffering from alcoholism, lives as a recluse in a large mansion. Through a sign language interpreter, H. W. asks Daniel to dissolve their partnership so that H. W. can establish his own oil company in Mexico. Daniel reacts brutally, mocks H. W.'s deafness, and reveals H. W.'s true origins as an orphan. H. W. thanks God he has "none of Daniel in him" and leaves.Eli visits Daniel, who is drunk, in Daniel's private bowling alley. Eli, now a radio preacher, offers to sell Daniel drilling rights on the land of William Bandy, who has recently died. Daniel agrees on the condition that Eli denounce his faith and his own credibility. Eli reluctantly does so. Daniel reveals that the property is now worthless because he has already drained its oil by slant drilling from surrounding wells. Shaken, Eli confesses to being in dire financial straits and to having strayed morally. Daniel taunts him, chases him around the bowling alley, and beats him to death with a bowling pin. When his butler enters the room, he finds Daniel sitting on the floor as he mutters "I'm finished!"
Storyline
- The intersecting life stories of Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday in early twentieth century California is presented. Miner turn oilman Daniel Plainview is a driven man who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. He works hard but he also takes advantage of those around him at their expense if need be. His business partner is his son H.W., who in reality he "acquired" when H.W.'s biological single father, who worked on one of Daniel's rigs, got killed in a workplace accident. Daniel is deeply protective of H.W. if only for what H.W. brings to the partnership. Eli Sunday is one in a pair of twins, whose family farm Daniel purchases for the major oil deposit located on it. Eli, the local preacher and a self-proclaimed faith healer, wants the money from the sale of the property to finance his own church. The lives of the two competitive men often clash as Daniel pumps oil off the property and tries to acquire all the surrounding land at bargain prices to be able to build a pipeline to the coast, and as Eli tries to build his own religious empire. — Huggo Los Angeles, California, 1902. After stumbling upon a large oil field, shrewd prospector Daniel Plainview shifts his focus from precious metals to oil. As a result, ruthless Daniel follows up on a promising lead with his adopted son in tow, determined to create an empire. And as silver-tongued Plainview poses as a trustworthy family man to talk the local landowners into selling vast plots of seemingly barren land for a song, a grim tale of pride, obsession, greed, and blood unfolds. — Nick Riganas Daniel Plainview, an ambitious oil prospector in early 20th-century California, exploits landowners to build his empire. His pursuit of wealth strains personal relationships, leading to isolation, conflict, and moral corruption. The film explores ambition, obsession, capitalism, and human depravity, emphasizing the destructive potential of greed and the cost of single-minded pursuit of power. Character study, tension, and period detail highlight the psychological and societal consequences of ambition. — chera_khalid The film follows the rise to power of Daniel Plainview - a charismatic and ruthless oil prospector, driven to succeed by his intense hatred of others and desperate need to see any and all competitors fail. When he learns of oil-rich land in California that can be bought cheaply, he moves his operation there and begins manipulating and exploiting the local landowners into selling him their property. Using his young adopted son H.W. to project the image of a caring family man, Plainview gains the cooperation of almost all the locals with lofty promises to build schools and cultivate the land to make their community flourish. Over time, Plainview's gradual accumulation of wealth and power causes his true self to surface, and he begins to slowly alienate himself from everyone in his life. — Denny Gibbons 2 more See all
