The Criterion Collection

Hairspray

Edition no. 1315

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Release Date: Tuesday, 23 June 2026
Country of Release: USA
MSRP: $49.95

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Licensor Information

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Directed by: John Waters

Featuring: Sonny Bono, Ruth Brown, Divine, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Deborah Harry, Jo Ann Havrilla, Ricki Lake, Ric Ocasek, Leslie Ann Powers, Clayton Prince, Michael St. Gerard, Jerry Stiller, Mink Stole, Shawn Thompson, Alan Wendl, Pia Zadora

After decades of pushing the boundaries of bad taste with his underground provocations, John Waters found surprising mainstream success with this infectiously irreverent rock-and-soul comedy. It’s 1962, and the only things bigger than the bouffant hairdos are the popular dance crazes sweeping the nation. When Baltimore teen Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake) shoots to stardom on a local TV dance party, her radical self-confidence and support for racial integration launch a movement that takes the city by storm. Costarring the inimitable Divine in a fiercely funny double role, Hairspray finds Waters marrying his wildly subversive sensibility with a newfound bubblegum sweetness for what may be his most irresistible film.

Year: 1988
Time: 92 min.