Production note The film won Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, with only one acting nomination for Mark Ruffalo.
Production note Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer wrote the screenplay from a Black List script.
Production note The real Globe team did not want the Pulitzer mentioned in the end credits.
Production note The Globe set was so accurate that real reporters rearranged the fake desks to match their own.
Production note The real Cardinal Bernard Law was reassigned to a senior position in Rome after the scandal.
Production note The movie’s opening flashback is set in 1976.
Production note The soundtrack is singled out for a repeating Howard Shore piano motif.
Production note A screenplay note implies about 6% of Boston priests could be implicated, or roughly 90 priests out of 1,500.
All the President’s Men Used as the major comparison for newspaper movies and investigative journalism drama.
The Verdict Mentioned as another film that captures Boston power and institutional fear.
The Big Short Cited as another hard-to-adapt true story executed successfully.
The Wire Referenced for season five’s newspaper storyline and Tom McCarthy’s role as Scott Templeton.
The Boston Globe Central institution in the story and the setting of the reporting team.
The Herald Mentioned as the Globe’s Boston newspaper rival.
Watergate Used as part of the broader history of major newspaper scandals and journalism films.
The Social Network Used to describe Spotlight’s efficiency and lack of wasted motion.
Zodiac Mentioned as another procedural, especially in its first hour and newsroom-adjacent material.
Shattered Glass Raised as an underrated newspaper movie with strong acting.
The Post Cited as a disappointing recent newspaper film.
Mad Men Used to situate John Slattery’s career and as a benchmark for his best work.
Birdman Mentioned as part of Michael Keaton’s late-career resurgence.
Jackie Brown Referenced in discussion of Michael Keaton’s best roles.
Ray Donovan Used jokingly when Russillo is mistaken for the character Ray Donovan in an HBO lobby.
