Executive Decision is a 1996 American action thriller film directed by Stuart Baird (in his directorial debut) and written by Jim Thomas and John Thomas, who also produced the film with Joel Silver. It stars Kurt Russell, Steven Seagal, Halle Berry, John Leguizamo, Oliver Platt, Joe Morton, David Suchet and B.D. Wong. It depicts the rescue of an airliner hijacked by terrorists, by a small team placed on the plane in mid flight, whose leader (played by Seagal) is killed early in the mission, requiring an intelligence consultant (played by Russell) to take over and finish the job. The film was released in the United States on March 15, 1996, by Warner Bros.