Into the Wild is a 2007 American biographical adventure drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Sean Penn.

It is an adaptation of the 1996 non-fiction book of the same name written by Jon Krakauer and tells the story of Christopher McCandless ("Alexander Supertramp"), a man who hiked across North America into the Alaskan wilderness in the early 1990s.

The film stars Emile Hirsch as McCandless, Marcia Gay Harden as his mother, William Hurt as his father, Jena Malone, Catherine Keener, Brian H. Dierker, Vince Vaughn, Kristen Stewart, and Hal Holbrook.

[4] In April 1992, Chris McCandless arrives in a remote area called Healy, just north of Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska.

McCandless destroys his credit cards and identification, donates his savings to Oxfam and sets out on a cross-country drive in his Datsun 210 to experience life in the wilderness.

In September, McCandless arrives in Carthage, South Dakota, and works for a contract harvesting company owned by Wayne Westerberg.

McCandless kayaks down the Colorado River and, though told by park rangers he may not do so without a license, ignores their warnings and goes downriver to Mexico.

One month later, camping near Salton City, McCandless meets Ron Franz, a retired widower who lost his family in a car accident while he was serving in the United States Army.

McCandless concludes that true happiness can be found only when shared with others, and he seeks to return from the wild to his friends and family.

The scenes of graduation from Emory University in the film were shot in late 2006 on the front lawn of Reed College.

[6] The Alaska scenes depicting the area around the abandoned bus on the Stampede Trail were filmed 50 miles (80 km) south of where McCandless actually died, in the tiny town of Cantwell.

[8] Brian Dierker, who plays a major supporting role in the film as Rainey, had no previous acting experience and became involved in the production to be a guide for the rafting scenes.

The site's critics consensus reads: "With his sturdy cast and confident direction, Sean Penn has turned a complex work of nonfiction like Into the Wild into an accessible and poignant character study.

"[10] Metacritic assigned the film an average score of 73 out of 100 based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

[19] In North America, Into the Wild initially opened in limited release in four theaters and grossed $212,440, posting a per-theater average of $53,110.

[29] The songs on the soundtrack were performed by Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam, and Jerry Hannan.

Eddie Vedder said whilst writing the songs on the album "I spent three days giving him (Sean Penn) colors that I could paint with.

[32][33] On September 24, 2020, the Museum of The North[34] at the University of Alaska (Fairbanks) announced that it had become the permanent home of Magic Bus 142, to be restored for an outdoor exhibit.