A homespun murder story.
Small town. Big crime. Dead cold.
A lot can happen in the middle of nowhere.
An ordinary place, an extraordinary thriller


Fargo is a 1996 American dark comedy crime thriller film written, produced, edited, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Frances McDormand stars as a pregnant Minnesota police chief investigating roadside homicides that ensue after a desperate car salesman (William H. Macy) hires two criminals (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife in order to extort a hefty ransom from his wealthy father-in-law (Harve Presnell).
Fargo premiered at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, where Joel Coen won the festival's Prix de la mise en scène (Best Director Award) and the film was nominated for the Palme d'Or. A critical and commercial success, Fargo received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. McDormand received the Best Actress Oscar, and the Coens won in the Best Original Screenplay category.
The film was selected in 2006 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"—one of only six films so designated in its first year of eligibility.[4] The American Film Institute named it one of the 100 greatest American movies of all time in 1998. A Coen-produced FX television series inspired by Fargo was also critically and commercially successful.


Release Date: April 6, 1996

Domestic Total Gross: $24,611,975

2016: $47,517,300