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Rock the Kasbah (2015)

Name: Rock the Kasbah
Genre: Comedy, Music, War
Released: 2015-10-22
Duration: 100 min
Rating: 5.4
Cast: Bill Murray, Zooey Deschanel, Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson, Taylor Kinney

Rock the Kasbah (2015), directed by Barry Levinson, starring Bill Murray and Zooey Deschanel.

14 10/22/2015 BR Comedy, Music and War 1h 40m

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Opportunity rocks where you least expect it.

Synopsis

A washed-up music producer finds one last shot at redemption with a golden-voiced young girl in Afghanistan. However, when jealousy gets the better of a disgruntled ex-boyfriend, he decides to oppose the young star with talent of his own.

Sean BobbittCinematography
Barry LevinsonDirector
Aaron YanesEditing
Bill BlockProducer

About the film

Rock the Kasbah is a 2015 American comedy film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Mitch Glazer. The film stars Bill Murray as Richie Lanz, a talent manager sent to Afghanistan for a USO tour, Kate Hudson as Richie's partner in country Merci, Bruce Willis as his armed protection and book client Bombay Brian and Leem Lubany as his musical discovery Salima Khan. Open Road Films released the film on October 23, 2015. The film takes its name from a song by The Clash.

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Plot

Richie Lanz, a has-been rock manager, takes his last remaining client Ronnie Smiler on a USO tour of Afghanistan. When Richie finds himself in Kabul, abandoned, penniless and without his U.S. passport, he discovers a young Afghan girl named Salima Khan with an extraordinary voice and manages to convince the producer of Afghan Star, Daoud, to put her through Afghanistan's version of American Idol.

Cast

Production

The story is very freely adapted from the 2009 documentary Afghan Star and was dedicated to one of the stars of that film, Setara Hussainzada. The film was announced in September 2013. In February 2014, Open Road Films acquired the US distribution rights to the film. In March 2014, Shia LaBeouf, who had been cast in the film, dropped out. A few days later, Scott Caan replaced LaBeouf. Principal photography and production began on June 2, 2014 and ended on July 30, 2014. It was filmed in Morocco.

Release

On August 20, 2014, Open Road Films announced the film would be released on April 24, 2015. On May 13, 2015, the film's release date was pushed up from November 13, 2015 to October 23, 2015.

Box office

This film opened on October 23, 2015, alongside The Last Witch Hunter, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, Jem and the Holograms and the expanded release of Steve Jobs. In its opening weekend, the film was originally projected to gross $6 million from 2,012 theaters; however, after grossing $75,000 during its Thursday preview screenings ($60 per theater), projections were lowered to $4 million. The film grossed $529,000 on its first day, and opening weekend projections were again lowered to $1.6 million. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $1.5 million, finishing 13th at the box office. According to Box Office Mojo, the film had the fifth-worst opening of all-time for a film playing in 2,000+ theaters, grossing an average $731 per venue (fellow opener Jem and the Holograms had an even worse $570 average).

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 7% based on 123 reviews and an average rating of 3.38/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Shareef don't like Rock the Kasbah, and neither will viewers hoping for a film that manages to make effective use of Bill Murray's knack for playing lovably anarchic losers." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 29 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

References

External links

Rock the Kasbah at IMDb

Rock the Kasbah at Box Office Mojo

Rock the Kasbah at Rotten Tomatoes

Rock the Kasbah at Metacritic

Text from Rock the Kasbah (film) on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_the_Kasbah_(film)

Trivia

It cost US$ 15 million and grossed US$ 3.0 million in theaters — 0.2 times its budget.
It premiered on October 22, 2015, a Thursday.
It runs 1h40 — a typical feature length.
As of September 20, 2026, it is on no subscription service in Brazil — only to rent or buy on Claro video, Apple TV Store, Amazon Video.
This film's quiz has 15 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosShangri-La Entertainment, QED International, Dune Films, Venture Forth, Open Road Films
CountriesMorocco, United States
LanguagesEnglish
BudgetUS$ 15,000,000
Box officeUS$ 3,020,664
StatusReleased

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Kabul

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Crew

Sean Bobbitt Cinematography
Barry Levinson Director
Aaron Yanes Editing
Bill Block Producer
Ethan Smith Producer
Jacob Pechenik Producer
Mitch Glazer Producer
Steve Bing Producer
Marcelo Zarvos Original music
Mitch Glazer Screenplay

Questions about this film

What is Rock the Kasbah about?

Rock the Kasbah: A washed-up music producer finds one last shot at redemption with a golden-voiced young girl in Afghanistan. However, when jealousy gets the better of a disgruntled ex-boyfriend, he decides to oppose the young star with talent of his own.

Who directed Rock the Kasbah?

Rock the Kasbah was directed by Barry Levinson in 2015.

Who stars in Rock the Kasbah?

The cast of Rock the Kasbah includes Bill Murray, Zooey Deschanel, Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson and Taylor Kinney.

How long is Rock the Kasbah?

Rock the Kasbah runs for 100 minutes, or 1h40.

How much did Rock the Kasbah cost and how much did it make?

Rock the Kasbah had a budget of US$ 15,000,000 and took US$ 3,020,664 at the box office.

Where can I watch Rock the Kasbah?

Rock the Kasbah is available on Claro video, Apple TV Store and Amazon Video. Availability changes often: the list on this page is the most recent we received.