Wag the Dog
“A comedy about truth, justice and other special effects.”
During the final weeks of a presidential race, the President is accused of sexual misconduct. To distract the public until the election, the President's adviser hires a Hollywood producer to help him stage a fake war.
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Cast
101 people
Barry Levinson Director · David Mamet Screenplay Hilary Henkin Screenplay
Worldwide gross $64M · Budget $15M · United States release December 25, 1997
Box office
Budget
$15,000,000
Worldwide gross
$64,256,513
Gross vs. budget
4.3×
Production
New Line Cinema
Production · Studio
Tribeca Productions
Production
Baltimore Pictures
Production
Punch Productions
Production
United States
Produced in
Languages
Original language
English
Spoken on screen
Albanian · English
Release dates
Norway · December 25, 1997
TV
United States · December 25, 1997
Limited theatrical
Australia
March 5, 1998 · Theatrical
Austria
November 6, 2000 · TV · ORF 1
Czechia
July 16, 1998 · Theatrical
France
April 29, 1998 · Theatrical
March 27, 2000 · TV · Canal+
September 4, 2003 · TV · France 3
November 6, 2026 · Digital · France.tv
November 6, 2026 · TV · France 5
Germany
March 26, 1998 · Theatrical
November 6, 2000 · TV · ZDF
Italy
April 10, 1998 · Theatrical
Netherlands
April 23, 1998 · Theatrical
June 6, 2003 · TV · Nederland 1
Portugal
May 8, 1998 · Theatrical
Russia
August 31, 1998 · Theatrical
South Korea
September 12, 1998 · Theatrical
Sweden
December 25, 1997 · Theatrical
Switzerland
August 8, 2002 · TV · SF zwei
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Some details come from TheTVDB.