The Manhattan Project is an American film, released in 1986. Named after the World War II-era program that constructed the first atomic bombs, the plot revolves around a gifted high school student who decides to construct an atomic bomb for a national science fair. It was directed by Marshall Brickman, based upon his screenplay co-written with Thomas Baum, and starred John Lithgow, Christopher Collet, John Mahoney, Jill Eikenberry and Cynthia Nixon. This was the first production from short-lived Gladden Entertainment.