American History X

American History X
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tony Kaye
Written by	David McKenna
Produced by	John Morrissey
Starring	Edward Norton Edward Furlong Fairuza Balk Stacy Keach Elliott Gould Avery Brooks Beverly D'Angelo
Cinematography	Tony Kaye
Edited by	Jerry Greenberg Alan Heim
Music by	Anne Dudley
Production companies	New Line Cinema The Turman-Morrissey Company
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release date	October 30, 1998 (1998-10-30)
Running time	119 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20 million[1]
Box office	$23.9 million[1]

American History X is a 1998 American crime drama film directed by Tony Kaye (in his feature directorial debut) and written by David McKenna. The film stars Edward Norton and Edward Furlong as two brothers from Los Angeles who are involved in the white power skinhead and neo-Nazi movements. The older brother (Norton) serves three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter, is rehabilitated during this time, and then tries to prevent his brother (Furlong) from being indoctrinated further. The supporting cast includes Fairuza Balk, Stacy Keach, Elliott Gould, Avery Brooks, Ethan Suplee and Beverly D'Angelo.

McKenna wrote the script based on his own childhood and experiences of growing up in San Diego. He sold the script to New Line Cinema, which was impressed by the writing. American History X was Kaye's first directorial role in a feature film. Budgeted at $20 million, filming took place in 1997. Before the film's release, Kaye and the film studio were in disagreements about the final cut of the film, which Norton had played a pivotal role in conceiving. The final version was longer than Kaye intended, which resulted in him publicly disowning the film, thus negatively affecting his directing career.

Distributed by New Line Cinema, the film was released in the United States on October 30, 1998 in limited theaters and received a wide theatrical release on November 20, 1998, grossing $23.9 million against a $20 million budget. American History X was critically praised, with Norton and Furlong's performances and the film's message drawing acclaim. Norton received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. The film has also been used for educational purposes in the United States and in other countries. A follow-up, African History Y, with Kaye returning as director and starring Djimon Hounsou, was in active development as of 2020.^[2]