Into the Wild is a 2007 Golden Globe-winning, Academy Award-nominated film based on the 1996 non-fiction book of the same name by Jon Krakauer about the adventures of Christopher McCandless. It was directed by Sean Penn, who also wrote the screenplay, and stars Emile Hirsch, Jena Malone, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt and Catherine Keener. It premiered during the second edition of the Rome film Feast and a limited release was given on September 21, 2007, and a wide release on October 19.