When Does "Cast Away" (2000) Take Place?
"Cast Away" is a romance film written by William Broyles Jr. and released December 22nd, 2000.
It takes place in the years:
We know this because the delivery trucks and boxes shown throughout the movie clearly say FedEx, as the real-world company formerly known as Federal Express (founded in 1971 AD) rebranded in 1994 AD. So it must be after 1994 AD.
1995 AD - 2000 AD
We know this because the delivery trucks and boxes shown throughout the movie clearly say FedEx, as the real-world company formerly known as Federal Express (founded in 1971 AD) rebranded in 1994 AD. So it must be after 1994 AD.
More specifically, when Chuck Noland buries the man who didn't survive the plane crash, he writes in chalk above the burial site: "ALBERT MILLER 1950 - 1995" and the divorce agreement documents he discovers in a random FedEx package are dated for "December 23rd 1995".
Several clear references and background Christmas decorations in the story's beginning tells us we absolutely start in late December of 1995 AD.
Chuck is a castaway for specifically 4 years because the title card a bit more than halfway through the narrative reads, "FOUR YEARS LATER" so it's presumably late December of 1999 AD.
12.1995 + 4 = 12.1999.
That title card is eventually followed by another, at roughly three-quarters to the end, with one that says, "FOUR WEEKS LATER". So it's now late January of 2000 AD.
12.1999 + 1 month = 1.2000.
Kelly Frears says the Tennessee Titans lost when "They went to the Super Bowl last year." This was probably the then-recent Super Bowl XXXIV that happened in the real world between the Tennessee Titans and the St. Louis Rams on January 30th, 2000 AD. The team lost by seven points. So it must be after February of 2000 AD at the end of the main action and Kelly is referring to the last season as "last year".
Finally, there's an epilogue that is technically unplaceable but presumably takes place soon after the main action, probably within the calendar year of 2000 AD.
