Dreamer premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2005, and was theatrically released in the United States by DreamWorks Pictures on October 21, 2005.

Having Cale along and not wanting her to see this, Ben strikes a bargain with Palmer and becomes the owner of the wounded horse but loses his job as a result.

Lilly responds that Soñador is the best thing that has ever happened to them, alluding to the fact that Ben is finally spending time with Cale.

At a parent-teacher night at school, Ben reads a story that Cale wrote about a king and his horse, and he realizes how much their family needs Soñador.

Cale decides to race Soñador in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, with Manny, Ben's colleague, as the jockey.

While doing research in Kentucky, the director/writer came upon a vet who told him about a racehorse who miraculously made a comeback after a serious injury, and he loosely based the script on this story.

To produce the soundtrack, an advance showing of this film was shown to a number of recording artists, who were then asked to submit ideas for theme songs.

After the movie, Kurt Russell bought Dakota Fanning a real Palomino horse, whom she named Goldie.

Dreamer premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2005, and was theatrically released in the United States by DreamWorks Pictures on October 21, 2005.

In its second weekend, it held well with a 33.2% drop to fourth place with $6,132,856 earned for a $2,462 average from being expanded to 2,491 theaters and lifting its two-week total to $17,374,339.

In its fourth weekend, it once again held well with a 22.2% slide to $3,728,510 and ninth place, for a $1,363 average from being expanded to its widest release, 2,735 theaters.

The film closed on January 5, 2006, after 77 days of release and grossing $32,751,093 domestically along with an additional $5,990,639 overseas for a worldwide total of $38,741,732.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Though formulaic, this horse story's saving grace is its strong performances.

"[4] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said it "Recycles just about every sentimental ploy and cliche from a raft of horse racing movies.