Rollerball (1975 film)
1975 film by Norman Jewison
Rollerball is a 1975 American dystopian science-fiction sports film directed and produced by Norman Jewison, and starring James Caan, John Houseman, Maud Adams, John Beck, Moses Gunn and Ralph Richardson. The screenplay, written by William Harrison, adapted his own short story "Roller Ball Murder", which had first appeared in the September 1973 issue of Esquire.
Set in a "not too distant" future world ruled by a corporatocracy, the film centers on the titular sport — an often-brutal spectacle used to help placate the populace. Jonathan E. (Caan), the sport's top player, finds himself at odds with the ruling powers, when his popularity threatens to hurt their grip on power.
The film was released by United Artists on June 25, 1975. Rollerball was a box office success, and critical reviews were initially mixed but have warmed somewhat over time, and the film inspired a wave of similar, dystopian-themed sports films. A remake was released in 2002.
Plot
In 2018, Jonathan E. is the team captain and veteran star of the Houston Rollerball team. Mr. Bartholomew, chairman of the Energy Corporation — one of a series of corporations that now govern society — and team sponsor, offers Jonathan a lavish retirement package if he will announce his retirement during an upcoming television special detailing his career.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Rollerball (1975 film)” is 1975 film by Norman Jewison. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Rollerball, film and Norman, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “1975 film by Norman Jewison” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q627209. VIAF identifies the subject as 184120886. The Library of Congress control number is no2002042662. 25 of 26 selected statements include explicit references; 22 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1975, 1973, 2002 and 2018.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Rollerball (1975 film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.