Production companies Village Roadshow Pictures Silver Pictures Vertigo Entertainment
Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel
Written by David Kajganich
Based on The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
Produced by Joel Silver
Starring Nicole Kidman Daniel Craig Jeremy Northam Jeffrey Wright Veronica Cartwright
Cinematography Rainer Klausmann
Edited by Joel Negron Hans Funck
Music by John Ottman
Synopsis After a Space Shuttle crashes on Earth, a fungus-like alien lifeform is discovered on the remaining parts scattered widely over the United States. Once people are infected by the organism, and REM sleep occurs, the organism takes control. One of the first people infected is Tucker Kaufman, a CDC director investigating the crash. Tucker's ex-wife, psychiatrist Carol Bennell, begins to feel something is amiss when people seem to have "changed". Her patient, Wendy Lenk (played by Veronica Cartwright, who appeared in the 1978 film version as Nancy Bellicec), describes how her husband "is not (her) husband", and one of Carol's son's friends acts detached and emotionless. At a neighborhood Halloween party, Carol's son Oliver finds an unusual patch of "skin" on a partier, which is initially believed to be costume makeup. Carol speculates that the skin may be connected to reports of a fast-spreading flu. Carol takes the sample to her doctor friend Ben Driscoll to have it analyzed. Carol and Oliver later witness a car accident where a troubled woman is killed. Carol approaches the crash scene to give a witness statement, but an emotionless cop takes down her plates and orders her back to her car. Afterwards, Carol drops Oliver off at Tucker's house for the weekend. Galeano and one of his assistants head to Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland, where they and other scientists will attempt to find a cure for the virus. Carol and Ben separate to find Oliver, who texts his location, the apartment of Tucker's mother, to Carol. Carol goes there and manages to spirit Oliver away, but is again pursued by Tucker, whom she has to kill to stop. Carol arranges to meet up with Ben, but it takes a while for him to show, and Carol almost falls asleep, but Oliver saves her. Ben arrives, but Carol finds he too has 'converted'. He attempts to seduce her to give in to the new society that has no crime, war, or violence, but also frankly states that there is no room for people like Oliver who are immune. Carol shoots Ben in the leg and flees with Oliver. They are pursued, but finally she and Oliver are picked up by helicopter, and flown to the medical center. A vaccine is created, inoculations are made world-wide, and within a year the alien virus is eliminated. Carol and Ben reunite, Ben having no memory of the events, and society reverts to its normal emotional and violent ways.
