One Eight Seven
One Eight Seven (also known as 187) is a 1997 American crime thriller film directed by Kevin Reynolds. It was the first top-billed starring role for Samuel L. Jackson, who plays a Los Angeles teacher caught with gang trouble in an urban high school. The film's name comes from the California Penal Code Section 187, which defines murder.
| 187 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Kevin Reynolds |
| Written by | Scott Yagemann |
| Produced by | Bruce Davey Stephen McEveety |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Ericson Core |
| Edited by | Stephen Semel |
| Music by | David Darling Michael Stearns |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 120 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million |
| Box office | $5.7 million |
The original screenplay was written in 1995 by Scott Yagemann, a Los Angeles area high school substitute teacher for seven years. He wrote the screenplay after an incident when a violent transfer student had threatened to kill him and his family. Yagemann reported the threat to the authorities and the student was arrested. About a week later, he was called by the district attorney to testify against the student in a court of law, where the student was being prosecuted for stabbing a teacher's aide a year before. This annoyed Yagemann, who had not been told about it beforehand, and led to him writing the screenplay. He claimed that 90% of the film's material is based on incidents that had happened to him and other teachers in real life.[1][2]