Title taken from container.

This program is closed-captioned.

Based on the novel of the same title by Louis Sachar.

"A Chicago Pacific Entertainment + Phoenix Pictures Production" -- DVD program.

Directed by Andrew Davis ; screenplay by Louis Sachar ; produced by Mike Medavy...[et al.].

Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Patricia Arquette, Tim Blake Nelson, Sha Labeouf, Kileo Thomas.

Presents a dramatization of the book by Louis Sachar. In this story Stanley Yelnats IV is a young man whose stream of bad luck is attributed to an ancient family curse. He is unfairly sentenced to a juvenile detention facility at Camp Green Lake for a crime which he did not commit. As he becomes immeshed in the routine of the camp: rising before dawn to dig a hole five feet deep and five feet in diameter, getting to know the boys in Group D, and bearing the warden, Stanley begins to realize that they may not just be digging but that the warden wants something specific. While digging under the Texas sun, he sees a fellow inmate whom he has befriended and is teaching to read, run away - and he decides to follow. Legends, loyalty and buried treasure are revealed as Stanley learns not only to survive but that friendship and learning matter. Includes a five-minute preview segment in which cast members comment on the book and the author talks about his creative process and the differences he found writing for the screen. DVD features include : scene selection, bonus features, captioning and Spanish subtitles. Includes English, French and Spanish language tracks.

Grades 4-8.