Man on Wire

Man on Wire is a documentary about Philippe Petit, a French tightrope walker who, on 7 August 1974, stepped onto a wire illegally rigged between the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center, then the tallest buildings in the world. He spent close to an hour moving above the streets of Manhattan, roughly 400 metres up, before police took him into custody. The film follows the planning and preparation behind the feat, drawing on archival material and interviews with Petit and the people who helped him, and considers what the stunt meant for those involved.

James Marsh directed, following his 2006 feature The King, and Simon Chinn produced; Philippe Petit is credited with the screenplay, and Petit, Jean François Heckel, Jean-Louis Blondeau, Annie Allix, David Forman and Alan Welner appear as themselves. The film runs 94 minutes and was produced in the United Kingdom by the UK Film Council, Red Box Films, BBC Storyville and Wall to Wall.

It took about 5 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.7/10 from 61,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 7.4/10 from 997 votes. A film critics' rating of 8.7/10 from 159 reviews places it well above both audience scores. Marsh went on to direct Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1980, Shadow Dancer, The Theory of Everything, King of Thieves, The Mercy, Dance First and Real Madrid: The Weight of Greatness.