<P> The Fugitive premiered in the United States on August 6, 1993, and was a major critical and commercial success . It was the third - highest - grossing film of 1993 domestically, with an estimated 44 million tickets sold in the US . It was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture; Jones won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor . It was followed by a 1998 spin - off, U.S. Marshals, in which Jones reprised his role as Gerard . </P> <P> Dr. Richard Kimble, a prominent Chicago vascular surgeon, arrives home to find his wife Helen fatally wounded by a one - armed man . Kimble struggles with the killer but he escapes . The lack of evidence of a break - in, Helen's lucrative life insurance policy, and a misunderstood 9 - 1 - 1 call result in Kimble's conviction of first - degree murder . Being transported to death row by bus, his fellow prisoners attempt an escape . The pandemonium sends the bus down a ravine and into the path of an oncoming train . Kimble escapes the collision and flees . Deputy U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard and his colleagues Renfro, Biggs, Newman and Poole arrive at the crash site and begin the search for Kimble . Kimble sneaks into a hospital to treat his wounds and alter his appearance . He eludes the authorities, but Gerard corners him at the edge of a storm drain over a dam . Kimble leaps into the raging water and escapes . </P> <P> Kimble returns to Chicago to hunt for the murderer and acquires money from his friend and colleague Dr. Charles Nichols . Posing as a janitor, Kimble enters the local county hospital's prosthetic department to obtain a list of people who had their prosthetic arm repaired shortly after his wife's murder . Following a police lead confirming Kimble's recent whereabouts, Gerard speculates that Kimble is searching for the one - armed man . Kimble breaks into the residence of one of the people on the list, a former police officer named Fredrick Sykes . Kimble discovers that Sykes is the murderer and is employed by a pharmaceutical company, Devlin MacGregor, which is scheduled to release a new drug called Provasic . Kimble investigated the drug in the past and revealed that it caused liver damage, which would have prevented it from being approved by the FDA . He also deduces that Nichols, who is leading the drug's development, arranged a cover - up and ordered Sykes to kill him--his wife's death was incidental . Gerard follows Kimble's lead to Sykes' home and draws the same conclusion . </P> <P> As Kimble takes an elevated train to confront Nichols at the drug's presentation in a hotel, Sykes appears and attacks him . In the struggle, Sykes shoots a transit cop before being subdued and handcuffed to a pole by Kimble . Kimble arrives at the pharmacon conference and interrupts Nichols's speech, accusing him of falsifying his medical research and orchestrating his wife's murder . They fight while being chased through the hotel by the marshals and police . Gerard calls out to Kimble that he knows about Nichols' conspiracy . Nichols knocks out Renfro and takes his gun and attempts to shoot Gerard, but Kimble attacks him from behind, knocking him unconscious . Kimble surrenders to Gerard, who escorts him out of the hotel . Nichols and Sykes are arrested . Kimble is exonerated and driven from the crime scene by Gerard . </P>

Where does the movie the fugitive take place