Heaven Can Wait | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster by Birney Lettick | |
Directed by | |
Screenplay by |
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Based on | Heaven Can Wait by Harry Segall |
Produced by | Warren Beatty |
Starring |
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Cinematography | William A. Fraker |
Edited by | |
Music by | Dave Grusin |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 101 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $6 million[2] |
Box office | $98.8 million[3] |
Heaven Can Wait is a 1978 American sports fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Warren Beatty and Buck Henry about a young man (played by Beatty) being mistakenly taken to heaven by his guardian angel, and the resulting complications of how this mistake can be undone, given that his earthly body has been cremated. It was the second film adaptation of Harry Segall's play of the same name, the first being Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941).
The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards, with Beatty becoming the second person (after Orson Welles for Citizen Kane) to be nominated for producing (Best Picture), directing (Best Director with Henry), writing (Best Adapted Screenplay with May) and acting (Best Actor) for the same film, and the film won for Best Art Direction. The cast includes Beatty, Julie Christie, and Jack Warden, all of whom had appeared in Shampoo (1975).
In 2001, a third film adaptation of the play was done, titled Down to Earth, sharing its name with the sequel to Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941).