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Holes is a 2003 American prison adventure film directed by Andrew Davis and written by Louis Sachar, based on his 1998 novel. The film stars Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Patricia Arquette, Tim Blake Nelson, and Shia LaBeouf in his theatrical film debut. In the film, Stanley Yelnats IV (LaBeouf) is sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention camp in Texas, after being wrongfully convicted of theft. The camp forces inmates to dig holes in a dried lake bed under the command of the cruel Warden Walker (Weaver), who is secretly searching for the buried treasure of outlaw Katherine "Kissin' Kate" Barlow (Arquette).
Director Andrew Davis worked on Holes to showcase his versatility beyond action films, enlisting author Louis Sachar to adapt his novel into a screenplay. Filming took place over ten weeks in California during the summer of 2002 on a $20 million budget. Shia LaBeouf was cast as Stanley after Davis sought a "young Tom Hanks", though the character's weight loss arc from the book was omitted for practicality. Scenes of hole-digging were carefully staged with different depth levels, and bearded dragons portrayed the venomous yellow-spotted lizards. The film, dedicated to actor Scott Plank, who died after filming wrapped, was produced by Chicago Pacific Entertainment and Phoenix Pictures, with distribution by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista.
Holes was released in the United States on April 18, 2003 and grossed $71 million worldwide. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised it for its intelligence and depth. The film won and was nominated for several awards, most notably LaBeouf received a nomination for Breakthrough Performance at the MTV Movie Awards, while the film earned nominations for Best Family Film at the Critics' Choice Awards and Young Artist Awards.
Contents
Plot
The Yelnats family has been cursed with bad luck, which they blame on their ancestor Elya's failure to keep a promise to fortune teller Madame Zeroni over a century earlier in Latvia. One day, Stanley Yelnats IV is wrongfully convicted of stealing a pair of sneakers donated to charity by baseball player Clyde "Sweet Feet" Livingston, and is sentenced to 18 months of hard labor at Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention camp in Texas, in lieu of jail time.
The camp is in a dry lake bed where rain never falls and venomous yellow-spotted lizards thrive. Stanley meets warden Louise Walker, her assistant Mr. Sir, and counselor Dr. Steve Pendanski. Inmates, nicknamed Zero, Zig-Zag, Armpit, Squid, X-Ray, and Magnet, dig holes daily, earning a day off for any finds that intrigue Louise. After Stanley discovers a golden lipstick tube marked K.B. and a fossil, he is accepted into the group and nicknamed Caveman. When Magnet steals Mr. Sir's sunflower seeds, Stanley assumes responsibility and is taken to Walker's cabin. He finds wanted posters there and learns "KB" stands for Katherine "Kissin' Kate" Barlow, a schoolteacher-turned-outlaw who once robbed a money chest from his great-grandfather Stanley Yelnats Sr. After admonishing Mr. Sir for his report, Louise lets Stanley return to work.
Camp Green Lake's history is revealed in flashbacks as a flourishing lakeside community in the 19th century. Kate romantically bonds with Sam, an African-American onion merchant who helps repair her schoolhouse. When the wealthy Charles "Trout" Walker discovers the two kissing, he informs the other citizens out of jealousy, and they burn down the schoolhouse and murder Sam. (After this murder, no rain falls on Green Lake for over a century.) In retaliation, Kate becomes an outlaw, hunting down Trout's men and earning her nickname by kissing the men she murders. As her legend is established, Green Lake declines due to the lake's gradual evaporation. Years later, Kate is found by the now-destitute Walkers. Before allowing herself to be lethally bitten by a lizard, she boasts neither Trout nor his descendants will find her buried fortune.
In the present, Dr. Pendanski mocks Zero, whose real name is Hector Zeroni, but Zero injures him and flees. After some deliberation, Stanley searches for Zero. The two have difficulty surviving in the desert without water. Eventually, Stanley carries the ailing Zero up a nearby mountain, and they regain their strength after finding a field of wild onions and a water source. By doing this, Stanley unknowingly fulfills Elya's promise to Madame Zeroni and breaks his family's curse. While camping on the mountain, Zero tells Stanley he took Sweet Feet's sneakers from an auction at a homeless shelter, mistakenly thinking they were a free donation. Zero then threw them over the bridge while evading the police, which led to the shoes inadvertently hitting Stanley's head.
Production
Director Andrew Davis chose to direct Holes to show he was capable of making more than action films such as The Fugitive and Collateral Damage. He encouraged author Louis Sachar to participate in the production and adapt the novel into a screenplay. To break down the novel's action into a film, Davis and Sachar storyboarded over 100 scenes on 3-by-5 note cards, each of which had specific time allotments. Sachar said Davis "went through and said, 'Now as you rewrite it, this card should take half a minute, this one should take three minutes, this one should take one minute, and so on.'" Before Sachar was hired, Richard Kelly was given the job to write the screenplay. His draft diverged from the source material, and had a darker, post-apocalyptic take with sci-fi elements. Kelly stated he was naive and was told by the production staff that he was "insane" before being removed from the film.
Holes was filmed in California over 10 weeks in the summer of 2002 on a $20 million budget. When looking for a child actor to play Stanley, Davis asked for an actor like "a young Tom Hanks". In the original book, Stanley is depicted as obese, shedding considerable weight as the book progresses. The filmmakers chose to drop this aspect from the movie, as they believed it would have been difficult to convincingly portray the weight loss in a live-action film. Initially, Frankie Muniz was cast as Stanley but ultimately dropped out to star in Agent Cody Banks.
The film was shot in several locations, including Ridgecrest, California. LaBeouf was simultaneously doing work for the Disney Channel show Even Stevens, and worked on the film after taping Even Stevens. To show the seven kids' holes being dug gradually throughout the day, different "phases" were used, for each of which the seven holes were given different levels of depth. For the yellow spotted lizards, fourteen bearded dragons were used, four of which were used for the main parts, and the rest used as "background atmosphere lizards". LaBeouf revealed that filming was intense. Due to the constant heat, the cast was only allowed to remain in the holes for about five minutes at a time and would be pulled out, even while they were in the middle of a take. He, the cast, and LaBeouf's father were also uncomfortable with Jon Voight who would remain in character between takes. LaBeouf also shared a half trailer with co-star Jake M. Smith. During one intensely hot day, Smith's entire half of the trailer blew up due to his refrigerator overheating.
The film is dedicated to Scott Plank, who appears in the film and died six months before its release.
Music
The film's music includes a new recording of the Grammy-winning single "Just Like You" by Keb Mo', and the Dr. Dre and Mike Elizondo-produced "Dig It" by The D Tent Boys (the actors portraying the D Tent group inmates), which included a video that was played regularly on the Disney Channel. The soundtrack also includes contributions by the Eels, Devin Thompson, Dr. John, Eagle Eye Cherry, Fiction Plane, Little Axe, Moby, North Mississippi Allstars, Pepe Deluxé, Shaggy, Stephanie Bentley, and Teresa James & the Rhythm Tramps. The score was composed and conducted by Joel McNeely.
Release
Home media
Holes was released on DVD and VHS on September 23, 2003. The DVD version of the film consists of widescreen and fullscreen versions, being a THX certified release.
The film was released onto Disney+ on April 18, 2020.
Reception
Box office
Holes grossed $16.3 million in its opening weekend, finishing #2 at the box office behind Anger Management's second weekend. It went on to gross a domestic total of $67.4 million and an additional $4 million in international revenue, totaling $71.4 million at the box office, against a $20 million budget, making the film a moderate financial success. The film was released in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2003, and opened at #9.
As of December 2003, the film sold 3.11 million copies for home use (VHS and DVD) earning a revenue of over $56.2 million.
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 77% based on 137 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "Faithful to its literary source, this is imaginative, intelligent family entertainment." On Metacritic, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film has a 71 out of 100 rating, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times rated the film three and a half stars of four stars and wrote, "Davis has always been a director with a strong visual sense, and the look of Holes has a noble, dusty loneliness. We feel we are actually in a limitless desert. The cinematographer, Stephen St. John, thinks big and frames his shots for an epic feel that adds weight to the story. I walked in expecting a movie for thirteen somethings, and walked out feeling challenged and satisfied. Curious, how much more grown up and sophisticated Holes is than Anger Management".
Joe Baltake of The Sacramento Bee gave Holes four out of four stars, praising the performances of Shia LaBeouf and Khleo Thomas and the film's emphasis on storytelling over the use of special effects.
Grant Tracey's review in The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier described Holes as a complex and thought-provoking film. He praised its exploration of social issues like institutional abuse, racism, and patriarchal injustice while remaining entertaining.
Nancy Churnin of The Dallas Morning News praised Holes as a rare children’s film with real depth, tackling themes of hope and redemption against a backdrop of historical and personal injustices. She also praised Louis Sachar's screenplay and Andrew Davis's direction. Churnin felt the actors' performances, particularly from Shia LaBeouf and Khleo Thomas, helped the realism in heartfelt connections. She later thought the film's themes resonated between adults and children alike.
Kenneth Turan of The Los Angeles Times gave it three and a half stars out of five, praising its ability to entertain both young and older audiences without condescension. He highlights the film's skillful balance of comedy and menace, crediting Louis Sachar's screenplay for preserving the novel's rich themes and intricate storytelling, although some changes from the book—like expanding Stanley's family for comic relief—feel unnecessary. The film's casting, particularly its naturalistic young actors, adds authenticity, while the adult performances, especially Jon Voight's, bring a touch of exaggerated humor.
Cancelled reboot
In 2025, a gender-swapped television series reboot was revealed to be in development at Disney+ with a pilot episode ordered. The produced pilot episode was written by Alina Mankin and directed by Jac Schaeffer with Shay Rudolph, Greg Kinnear, and Aidy Bryant starring. However, it ultimately didn't lead to a series order and was eventually cancelled.
