Ransom

Ransom is a 1996 thriller film, starring Mel Gibson, Rene Russo and Gary Sinise and directed by Ron Howard. The movie was nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama for Mel Gibson, and was the 5th highest grossing movie of 1996 in the United States.

The original idea for the story was from an episode of The United States Steel Hour named "Fearful Decision" that aired in 1954. It was then a remake of the 1956 feature-length film of the same name written by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume starring Glenn Ford, Donna Reed and Leslie Nielen. The film also was influenced by King's Ransom, a police procedural novel by Ed McBain which was, in turn, the basis for Akira Kurosawa's 1963 film High and Low.