Soul Man_
"He didn't give up, he got down."
A white prospective grad student's affluent family won't pay his way through law school, so he takes tanning pills to darken his skin in order to qualify for an African-American scholarship at Harvard. He soon gets more than he bargained for, as he begins to learn what life is really like for blacks in America.
Starring
C. Thomas Howell, Rae Dawn Chong, Arye Gross
Box Office
$35.0M
Updated Feb 16, 2026
WHERE TO WATCH
No streaming data available yet.
Check availabilityDROPTHE_ GOSSIP
Box office
Soul Man earned $35.0M worldwide on a $4.5M budget — a 678% return on investment.
Year context
Soul Man was released 40 years ago in 1986.
Soul Man is a Comedy film with a runtime of 1h 44m.
CAST (20)
C. Thomas Howell
Mark Watson
Rae Dawn Chong
Sarah Walker
Arye Gross
Gordon Bloomfeld
James Earl Jones
Professor Banks
Melora Hardin
Whitney Dunbar
Leslie Nielsen
Mr. Dunbar
Ann Walker
Mrs. Dunbar
James B. Sikking
Bill Watson
Max Wright
Dr. Aronson
Jeff Altman
Ray McGrady
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Lisa Stimson
Maree Cheatham
Dorothy Watson
Wallace Langham
Barky Brewer
ES
Eric Schiff
Booey Fraser
Ron Reagan
Frank
Mark Neely
Brad Small
DR
David Reynolds
Ernie
Wolfe Perry
Leon
JP
Jerry Pavlon
Bruce Wizansky
Laurel Green
Zendel
BOX OFFICE
$4.5M
Budget
$35.0M
Revenue
+678%
ROI
MASSIVE HIT
Verdict
DETAILS
Release
Status
Released
Runtime
104 min (1h 44m)
Country
Rating
5.3/10 (160 votes)
Budget
$4,500,000
Box Office
$35,000,000
Profit
+$30,500,000
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is Soul Man about?
A white prospective grad student's affluent family won't pay his way through law school, so he takes tanning pills to darken his skin in order to qualify for an African-American scholarship at Harvard. He soon gets more than he bargained for, as he begins to learn what life is really like for blacks in America.
How long is Soul Man?
Soul Man has a runtime of 104 minutes (1h 44m).
Who stars in Soul Man?
The cast of Soul Man includes C. Thomas Howell, Rae Dawn Chong, Arye Gross, James Earl Jones, Melora Hardin.
How much did Soul Man make at the box office?
Soul Man earned $35,000,000 worldwide at the box office. The production budget was $4,500,000.
What is the rating of Soul Man?
Soul Man has a rating of 5.3 out of 10 based on 160 votes on TMDB.
GENRES (1)
Comedy