We Bought a Zoo is a 2011 American family comedy-drama film loosely based on the 2008 memoir of the same name by Benjamin Mee. It was written and directed by Cameron Crowe and stars Matt Damon as Benjamin Mee, who purchases a dilapidated zoo with his family and takes on the challenge of preparing the zoo for its reopening to the public. The film also stars Scarlett Johansson, Maggie Elizabeth Jones, Thomas Haden Church, Patrick Fugit, Elle Fanning, Colin Ford, and John Michael Higgins. The film was released in the United States on December 23, 2011 by 20th Century Fox. The film has received mixed reviews from critics, and it earned $120.1 million on a $50 million budget. We Bought a Zoo was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 3, 2012 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.