Planet Hulk (2011)
A Marvel Studios production
Distributed by Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox
A film by Ridley Scott
Rated PG-13 for violence including intense sequences of warfare, and some disturbing imagery
Distributed by Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox
A film by Ridley Scott
Rated PG-13 for violence including intense sequences of warfare, and some disturbing imagery
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An internationally famous and well respected bodybuilder / actor, Lou Ferrigno first appeared on TV screens in 1977 as the musclebound title character of The Incredible Hulk (1978), the alter ego of meek scientist David Banner. Ferrigno was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1951 and as a child suffered from an ear infection that resulted in permanent partial hearing loss. Undeterred by what some may have perceived as a disadvantage, Lou threw himself into athletics (predominantly weightlifting and body building) and at the age of 21 won his first Mr. Universe title. For good measure, he came back and won it again the following year!
He also played professional football in the Canadian Football League, before coming to the attention of producer Kenneth Johnson, who was seeking just the right person to portray on screen the comic book superhero, The Incredible Hulk. With his 6'5", 285 lbs. frame, Lou was the biggest professional bodybuilder of the time, and had recently starred in the documentary Pumping Iron (1977), about the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest in South Africa. He successfully auditioned for the part of the green-skinned Goliath, and that is the role with which he is most closely identified.
"The Hulk" was a huge ratings success and spawned several telemovies after the initial TV series completed its run. Lou continued to remain busy in films and TV with appearances often centered around his remarkable physique. His films included Hercules (1983), Sinbad of the Seven Seas (1989) and Frogtown II (1992). Lou has additionally guest-starred on several TV shows including The Fall Guy (1981) and The New Mike Hammer (1984) and had a recurring role on The King of Queens (1998). In 1997 he was featured in the dynamic documentary about his sensational return to professional bodybuilding at age 43, Stand Tall (1997). The film detailed how he returned to compete in the Masters category of the Mr. Olympia contest against several familiar bodybuilding foes. In more recent years, he has appeared in several films, including The Misery Brothers (1995), Ping! (2000), From Heaven to Hell (2002) and a cameo as a security guard in the big-budget remake of Hulk (2003).
Big Lou is also a successful author with two books detailing his bodybuilding knowledge, and his life behind the scenes playing the Incredible Hulk on TV in the 1970s, plus he has a popular website frequented by his many fans worldwide.Hulk (Voice)- Actor
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From Timothy Olyphant's first screen appearances, such as his two-minute bit in The First Wives Club (1996), to "Nicko", whose presence at times dwarfed the island in A Perfect Getaway (2009), he has been a force to be reckoned with.
Born in Hawaii, Timothy David Olyphant was raised in Modesto, California. He is the son of Katherine Lyon (Gideon) and John Vernon Bevan Olyphant, a college teacher who was also an executive at E & J Gallo Winery. He has an older brother, Andy, who is in A&R for Warner Bros. Records, and a younger brother, Matt Olyphant, who was the lead singer for the punk rock group, Fetish, and is also an artist. He is a descendant of the prominent Vanderbilt and Olyphant families of businesspeople, and his ancestry includes Russian Jewish (from a maternal great-grandfather), English, German, Scottish, Dutch, and Irish. Timothy quickly became Modesto's favorite son, competing as a pro swimmer and excelling at drawing. It was, by chance, that he enrolled in an acting course as an elective and decided to pursue an acting career. He took his family and headed to New York City, where he studied the craft and began auditioning for roles. From the beginning, he tried to choose diversified roles and take chances with every genre and always approached everything he did with commitment, humor and grace. Timothy is married to his college sweetheart, Alexis Knief, and, together, they raise three children, one son and two daughters in California. He has managed to keep his personal life out of the tabloids. He obviously has his priorities straight, as this is no easy task in Hollywood.
Highlights of Olyphant's career include his riveting portrayal of "Sheriff Seth Bullock" in HBO's hit drama, Deadwood (2004). He now personifies intensity as complex Kentucky Marshal, "Raylan Givens", in FX's Justified (2010). On the big screen, in 2010's The Crazies (2010), he had the chance to infuse his character with doubts, fears and humaneness in an inhumane situation. Mr. Olyphant proved he could carry a major movie on his talent, alone. He recently appeared in I Am Number Four (2011), a sci-if thriller, in which Tim provided the adult mentorship, taking a back seat to the teen cast.Angmo-Asan/Red King- Actress
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Lena Headey is a Bermudian-British actress. Headey is best known for her role as "Cersei Lannister" in Game of Thrones (2011) (2011-2019) and The Brothers Grimm (2005), Possession (2002), and The Remains of the Day (1993). Headey stars as "Queen Gorgo", a heroic Spartan woman in the period film, 300 (2006), by director Zack Snyder.
Headey was born in Hamilton, Bermuda, to British parents Sue and John Headey. Her father, a Yorkshire police cadet, was stationed in the Bermuda Police Service. She was raised there until age five, when her family returned to England. She was brought up in Yorkshire before moving to London in her teens. Headey had not gone to drama school before she became an actress. At the age of seventeen, Headey's performance in a one-off show in the company of six school friends caught the attention of a casting agent, who took a photo and asked her to audition. Eventually, Headey was cast in Waterland (1992), which became her big-screen debut. She honed her natural acting talent while filming and also took archery classes and horse training. She also took boxing classes in clubs in south London, where a former boxer had been teaching her to spar. During her film career, spanning over 15 years, Headey has shown her range in a variety of roles, playing characters from Amazon-type warriors and action-minded women in The Cave (2005) and The Brothers Grimm (2005), to a lesbian florist in Imagine Me & You (2005).
Headey's film career has taken her all over the world. She was in India for the filming of The Jungle Book (1994), then in St. Petersburg, Russia, for filming Onegin (1999), and in Norway for filming of Aberdeen (2000). In 2005 Headey was filming in Romania and in Mexico, then spent four months in Prague, Czech Republic, where a forest was designed and built for filming The Brothers Grimm (2005), with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger. During 2006 Headey was in Canada for the filming of 300 (2006), then went to locations in Bulgaria for shooting The Contractor (2007), and Germany and in Czech Republic for the filming of The Red Baron (2008).
She also played Gina McVey in the horror thriller The Broken (2008), and Elizabeth in Tell Tale (2009). In addition to her film-work, Heady appeared as Sarah Connor in a TV spin-off of the popular "Terminator" film franchise, the FOX's television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008).
Outside of her acting profession, Headey continued taking boxing lessons in London. She is a vegetarian and also remains loyal to yoga, which she discovered during her work in India. She has never been back to her birthplace in Bermuda; she shares her time between her homes in London, England, and Los Angeles, California.Caiera- Actress
- Producer
Swedish actress Noomi Rapace was born in Hudiksvall, Gävleborgs län, Sweden to Swedish actress Nina Norén and Spanish Flamenco singer Rogelio de Badajoz (Rogelio Durán). Her parents did not stay together, and when she was five she moved to Iceland with her mother and stepfather, where she lived for three years. When she was eight she was cast in a small role in the Icelandic film 'Í skugga hrafnsins', and this sparked her love of acting. At 15 she left home and joined the Stockholm Theatre School.
Rapace won the recurring role of Lucinda Gonzales in the Swedish TV series Tre kronor (1994), and also became a respected stage performer. She won critical acclaim for playing the leading role in 2007's Daisy Diamond (2007). In 2009, Rapace came to the attention of international audiences for her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009). Her performance was widely praised, and she won the Best Actress prize at Sweden's prestigious Guldbagge Awards. She went on to reprise the role in the sequels, The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009) and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009).
Rapace made her English-language film debut in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) alongside Robert Downey Jr. She was also cast as Elizabeth Shaw in Ridley Scott's Prometheus (2012).Elloe Kaifi- Actor
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Born and raised in London, England, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje began his career as a model in Milan. He graduated with a masters degree in Law from London's prestigious Kings College, before moving to Los Angeles to make the transition to acting. Fluent in several languages, including English, Italian, Yoruba and Swahili, he is best known for his roles in the movies Congo (1995) and The Mummy Returns (2001), and the HBO series Oz (1997).Korg- Actor
- Producer
Nathan Owens, who is from the San Francisco Bay area of California, was born on March 9, 1984. He began his career with modeling. He has appeared in several issues of GQ and in many commercial/print campaigns for the Gap, Polo, Izod and Sperry. He has the distinction of being the second African-American ever to be featured in a fragrance campaign for Polo Ralph Lauren Big Pony.
After making the switch to acting, Owens began appeared in Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Esmee Denters video. Soon after, he landed a spot opposite Nicki Minaj in her music video "Va Va Voom," directed by Hype Williams. Additionally, he served as a host of NBC's "First Look LA."
His life changed when he won the role of "Dr Cameron Davis" on the long running soap opera "Days of our Lives" in December 2012. He is on contract since then.Hiroim- Actor
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- Writer
Best known for his supporting role as Dwight in Fast & Furious (2009) as well as his voice acting as 2012 Michelangelo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012-2017) and Beast Boy in Teen Titans Go! (since 2013), Gregory Michael Cipes realized his calling as an entertainer early in life. Having been born and raised in South Florida to a family of 9 brothers and sisters, Greg's inspiration to join the entertainment business was drawn from his thespian grandparents and TV director father. After dozens of roles in children's theater and numerous national commercials, made his professional off-Broadway acting and singing debut, starring as Young Solomon in the production "The Rothschild's" at the age of 13. At 16 he wrote, recorded and self produced his first single and eventual South Florida dance club hit with his band "Cipes and the People", whose album has since sold 60,000 copies plus. His new band, "Super Space Fighters" has been touted by critics as being a fresh take on Rock and Roll by mashing the sounds of the likes of the Beatles, Grateful Dead and Bob Marley (I). Cipes's new band has just started playing festivals across the United States.
At the age of 17, Greg became nationally ranked as a Junior Professional surfer with an unheard of 13 corporate sponsors. He's been featured several surfing magazines, and has graced the cover of "Eastern Surf Magazine" while appearing in numerous advertising campaigns for his sponsors.
Greg moved to Los Angeles in 2001, with nothing more than his beloved dog Timber, a guitar on his bad, and a surfboard. Since, he has starred in over 30 feature films such as "Fast & Furious (2009)", "Vile (2011)", "John Tucker Must Die (2006)", "Simon Says (2006)", "Pledge This! (2006)", "The Onion Movie (2008)", "Club Dread (2004)". His television appearances include "Ghost Whisperer (2005)", "Cold Case (2003)", "Gilmore Girls (2000)", Raines (2007)", "House (2004), "Bones (2005)", "Without a Trace (2002), "Samantha Who? (2007)". He has had recurring and series regular television roles on "The Middle (2009)", "Deadwood (2004), "One on One (2001)", "True Blood (2008)" and "Twentyfourseven (2006)", "Roseanne's Nuts (2011)", "CSI: Miami (2002)", "General Hospital (1963)" & "Anger Management (2012).
Cipes has been dubbed the Crowned Prince of the Voiceover, having originally been discovered by 8 time Emmy Award-winning voice director Andrea Romano who cast Greg in his first cartoon role announcing "Greg has begun this ridiculously huge voice-over career." Greg is now the voice of his childhood idol Michelangelo in Nickelodeon's new global hit series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012). His animation roles have made him known universally in such immortal characterizations as "Beast Boy" in Teen Titans Go! (2013), "Kevin Levin" in Ben 10: Alien Force (2008), "Chiro" in Disney's "Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!" (2004) , "Danny Rand/Iron Fist" in Ultimate Spider-Man (2012), "Caleb" in W.I.T.C.H. (2004), Atlas" in "Astro Boy" (2003), the unforgettable lion cub, "Ryan" in The Wild (2006) and recurring roles in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) and Fish Hooks (2010) and Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil (2010).
Greg's latest projects include a bi weekly "speakeasy" concert of eclectic local bands called La La Land, which is held at the Hollywood lounge Bardot. As a celebration of the culture and community of Laurel Canyon, Greg has created and is hosting the 4th Annual "Love Street Festival", taking place in Laurel Canyon July 5th. Greg is also on the board of the "Kids Venice Basketball League Natural Leaders program" which is an outreach program based in Los Angeles where underprivileged youth are introduced to the practices and principles of organic gardening, Yoga, Surfing, sustainable living and meditation. He has started his own charity organization based in Los Angeles called "UnAmor" bringing homeless Children, the Elderly and dogs together. Greg continues to tour the world making autograph appearances, teaching meditation and playing music live at Comic cons.Miek (Voice)- Actor
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Luke Goss started his acting career playing 'Danny Zuko' in the smash hit musical Grease, on London's West End, and later toured with the production throughout the United Kingdom. He established himself as a screen actor in 2002 with performances in two very different features: David Goyer's independent drama ZigZag, with John Leguizamo, Oliver Platt, Natasha Lyonne and Wesley Snipes; and Guillermo Del Toro's supernatural action feature Blade II, with Snipes and Ron Perlman. The following year, he starred in the title role of the critically acclaimed British gangster film Charlie, and in the role of the monster in the Emmy Award-winning Hallmark miniseries Frankenstein, with Donald Sutherland and William Hurt. In 2005, Goss traveled to India to play the role of King Xerxes in the Biblical epic One Night With The King, opposite Omar Sharif and Peter O'Toole, firmly establishing him as a versatile actor. He then went on to star in The Man, with Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy; Mercenary, with Steven Seagal; Bone Dry, with Lance Henriksen; Unearthed, with Emmanuelle Vaugier; Deep Winter, with Michael Madsen; and Shanghai Baby, with Bai Ling. 2008 reunited Goss with Guillermo Del Toro in Universals Hellboy II: The Golden Army, the sequel that opened in the number one spot at the U.S. box office. The role earned Goss 2 MTV Movie Award nominations. He had the starring role in Tekken, a sci-fi feature thriller based on the popular video and arcade game. He has completed filming his first role for Network Television in JJ Abrams "Fringe". Luke has also played leading roles in Across The Line, Blood Out, and has taken over Universals Death Race franchise, firmly establishing him as a leading man.
He was born in Lewisham, London, to Carol (Read) and Alan Goss.Lavin Skee- Actor
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- Soundtrack
The youngest of four brothers, Doug Jones was born on May 24, 1960, in Indianapolis, Indiana, and grew up in the city's Northeastside. After attending Bishop Chatard High School, he headed off to Ball State University, where he graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor's degree in Telecommunications and a minor in Theatre.
He learned mime at school, joining a troupe and doing the whole white-face thing, and has also worked as a contortionist.
After a hitch in theater in Indiana, he moved to Los Angeles in 1985, and has not been out of work since; he's acted in over 25 films, many television series (Including the award-winning Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997); his episode "Hush" garnered two Emmy nominations) and over 90 commercials and music videos with the likes of Madonna and Marilyn Manson.
Although known mostly for his work under prosthetics, he has also performed as 'himself' in such highly-rated films as Adaptation. (2002) with Nicolas Cage and indie projects such as Phil Donlon's A Series of Small Things (2005).
But it is his sensitive and elegant performance as Abe Sapien in Hellboy (2004), which stormed to the top of the U.S. box office in the spring of 2004, that has brought him an even higher profile and much praise from audiences and critics alike.
Doug is married and lives in California.Silver Surfer- Actor
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Critically hailed for his forceful, militant, authoritative figures and one of Hollywood's most talented and versatile performers, Laurence (John) Fishburne III has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a number of NAACP Image honors.
Born in Augusta, Georgia on July 30, 1961, to Hattie Bell (Crawford), a teacher, and Laurence John Fishburne, Jr., a juvenile corrections officer. His mother transplanted her family to Brooklyn after his parents divorced. At the age of 10, the young boy appeared in his first play, "In My Many Names and Days," at a cramped little theater space in Manhattan. He continued on but managed to avoid the trappings of a child star per se, considering himself more a working child actor at the time. Billing himself as Larry Fishburne during this early phase, he never studied or was trained in the technique of acting.
In 1973, at the age of 12, young Laurence won a recurring role on the daytime soap One Life to Live (1968) that lasted three seasons. He subsequently made his film debut in the ghetto-themed Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975). At 14 Francis Ford Coppola cast him in Apocalypse Now (1979), which filmed for two years in the Philippines. Laurence didn't work for another year and a half after that long episode. A graduate of Lincoln Square Academy, Coppola was impressed enough with Laurence to hire him again down the line with featured roles in Rumble Fish (1983), The Cotton Club (1984) and Gardens of Stone (1987).
Throughout the 1980s, he continued to build up his film and TV credit list with featured roles despite little fanfare. A recurring role as Cowboy Curtis on the kiddie show Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986) helped him through whatever lean patches there were at the time. TV guest appearances at this time included "Trapper John," "M*A*S*H*," "Hill Street Blues," "Miami Vice," "Spenser: For Hire" and "The Equalizer."
With the new decade (1990s) came out-and-out stardom for Laurence. A choice lead in John Singleton's urban tale Boyz n the Hood (1991) catapulted him immediately into the front of the film ranks. Set in LA's turbulent South Central area, his potent role as a morally minded divorced father who strives to rise above the ignorance and violence of his surroundings, Laurence showed true command and the ability to hold up any film.
On stage, Laurence would become invariably linked to playwright August Wilson and his 20th Century epic African-American experience after starring for two years as the eruptive ex-con in "Two Training Running." For this powerful, mesmerizing performance, Laurence won nearly every prestigious theater award in the books (Tony, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Theatre World). It was around the time of this career hallmark that he began billing himself as "Laurence" instead of "Larry." More awards and accolades came his way. In addition to an Emmy for the pilot episode of the series "Tribeca," he was nominated for his fine work in the quality mini-movies The Tuskegee Airmen (1995) and Miss Evers' Boys (1997).
On the larger screen, both Laurence and Angela Bassett were given Oscar nominations for their raw, seething portrayals of rock stars Ike and Tina Turner in the film What's Love Got to Do with It (1993). To his credit, he managed to take an extremely repellent character and make it a sobering and captivating experience. A pulp box-office favorite as well, he originated the role of Morpheus, Keanu Reeves' mentor, in the exceedingly popular futuristic sci-fi The Matrix (1999), best known for its ground-breaking special effects. He wisely returned for its back-to-back sequels.
Into the millennium, Laurence extended his talents by making his screenwriting and directorial debut in Once in the Life (2000), in which he also starred. The film is based on his own critically acclaimed play "Riff Raff," which he staged five years earlier. In 1999, he scored a major theater triumph with a multi-racial version of "The Lion in Winter" as Henry II opposite Stockard Channing's Eleanor of Acquitaine. On film, Fishburne has appeared in a variety of interesting roles in not-always-successful films. Never less than compelling, a few of his more notable parts include an urban speed chess player in Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993); a military prisoner in Cadence (1990); a college professor in Singleton's Higher Learning (1995); a CIA operative in Bad Company (1995); the title role in Othello (1995) (he was the first black actor to play the part on film); a spaceship rescue team leader in the sci-fi horror Event Horizon (1997); a Depression-era gangster in Hoodlum (1997); a dogged police sergeant in Clint Eastwood's Mystic River (2003); a spelling bee coach in Akeelah and the Bee (2006); and prominent roles in the mainstream films Predators (2010) and Contagion (2011). He returned occasionally to the theatre. In April 2008, he played Thurgood Marshall in the one-man show "Thurgood" and won a Drama Desk Award. It was later transferred to the TV screen and earned an Emmy nomination.
In the fall of 2008, Fishburne replaced William Petersen as the male lead investigator on the popular CBS drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), but left the show in 2011 to refocus on films and was in turn replaced by Ted Danson. Having since had a regular role as "Pops" in the comedy Black-ish (2014), he has also been seen on the bigger screen in the Superman movies Man of Steel (2013) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) as Daily Planet chief Perry White; played a hired assassin in the thriller Standoff (2016); portrayed a minister and former Vietnam War vet in Last Flag Flying (2017); and essayed the role of a revengeful prison warden in Imprisoned (2018).
Fishburne has two children, Langston and Montana, from his first marriage to actress Hajna O. Moss. In September 2002, Fishburne married Cuban-American actress Gina Torres.Silver Surfer (Voice)- Actor
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Logan is a native of Charleston, South Carolina. His parents are both drama teachers. His mother, Lowry Marshall, is the artistic director of Brown University's repertory theatre department.
Logan graduated with a Master's in Fine Arts from New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts.
He made a few appearances in Law and Order, before landing recurring roles on The O.C. (2003) and 24 (2001). His breakthrough role came in Ridley Scott's Prometheus (2012).Denebo Aruc III- Actor
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Patrick Joseph Wilson was born in Norfolk, Virginia and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, the son of Mary Kathryn (Burton), a voice teacher and professional singer, and John Franklin Wilson, a news anchor.
Wilson has a B.F.A. in Drama from Carnegie-Mellon University. His theater work has produced many nominations and awards. He was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical for The Full Monty, a Drama League Award for "Fascinating Rhythm", a Drama Drama League Award for "Bright Lights, Big City", an Encores nomination for "Tenderloin". He had national tours in "Carousel" (Drama Logue Award winner and L.A. Ovation nomination) and "Miss Saigon". Regionally, he has appeared in "Sweet Bird of Youth" (La Jolla), "Cider House Rules" (Mark Taper Forum), "Romeo and Juliet: The Musical" (Ordway), "Lucky in the Rain" (Goodspeed), "Harmony" (La Jolla), and "The Full Monty" (Globe).
Patrick Wilson is married to actress Dagmara Dominczyk; the couple has two children.Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic- Actor
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Colin Farrell is one of Ireland's biggest stars in Hollywood and abroad. His film presence has been filled with memorable roles that range from an inwardly tortured hit man, to an adventurous explorer, a determined-but-failing writer, and the greatest military leader in history.
Farrell was born on May 31, 1976 in Castleknock, Dublin, Ireland to Rita (Monaghan) and Eamon Farrell. His father and uncle were both professional athletes, and briefly it looked like Farrell would follow in their footsteps. Farrell auditioned for a part in the Irish boy band Boyzone, unsuccessfully. After dropping out of the Gaiety School of Acting, Farrell was cast in Ballykissangel (1996), a BBC television drama. "Ballykissangel" was not his first onscreen role. Farrell had previously been in The War Zone (1999), directed by Tim Roth and had appeared in the independent film Drinking Crude (1997). Farrell was soon to move on to bigger things.
Exchanging his thick Dublin accent for a light Texas drawl, Farrell acted in the gritty Tigerland (2000), directed by Joel Schumacher. Starring Farrell among a number of other budding young actors, the film portrays a group of new recruits being trained for the war in Vietnam. Farrell played the arrogant soldier Boz, drafted into the army and completely spiteful of authority. The film was praised by critics but made little money at the box office. It was Farrell's first big role on film, and certainly not his last. Farrell followed up with American Outlaws (2001), where he played the notorious outlaw Jesse James with Scott Caan, son of legendary actor James Caan, in the role of Cole Younger. The film was a box-office flop and a critical failure. Immediately, Farrell returned to the war drama film that had made him famous. Co-starring in the war film Hart's War (2002) opposite Bruce Willis, Farrell played the young officer captured by the enemy. The film was another failure. Farrell struck gold when he was cast in the Steven Spielberg film Minority Report (2002) that same year. Set in a futuristic time period, Farrell played the character Danny Witwer, a young member of the Justice Department who is sent after Tom Cruise's character. The film was a smash hit, and praised by critics.
Farrell continued this success when he reunited with Joel Schumacher on the successful thriller Phone Booth (2002). Farrell played the role of the victim who is harassed by an unseen killer (Kiefer Sutherland) and is made to reveal his sins to the public. 2003 was a big year for Farrell. He starred in the crime thriller The Recruit (2003) as a young CIA man mentored by an older CIA veteran (Al Pacino). Pacino later stated that Farrell was the best actor of his generation. Farrell certainly continued to be busy that year with Daredevil (2003), which actually allowed him to keep his thick Irish accent. The film was another success for Farrell, as was the crime film S.W.A.T. (2003) where Farrell starred opposite Samuel L. Jackson and LL Cool J. Farrell also acted in the Irish black comedy film Intermission (2003) and appeared another Irish film Veronica Guerin (2003) which reunited him with Joel Schumacher once again. The following year, Farrell acted in what is his most infamous film role yet: the title role in the mighty Oliver Stone film epic Alexander (2004), which is a character study of Alexander the Great as he travels across new worlds and conquers all the known world before him. Farrell donned a blond wig and retained his Irish accent, and gave a fine performance as Alexander. However, both he and the film were criticized. Despite being one of the highest grossing films internationally and doing a good job at the DVD sales, Farrell did not come out of the experience without a few hurts. Farrell attempted to rebound with his historical film The New World (2005). Reuniting with "Alexander" star Christopher Plummer, and also acting with Christian Bale, Farrell played the brave explorer John Smith, who would make first contacts with the Native peoples. The film did not do well at the box office, though critics praised the film's stunning appearance and cinematography.
Farrell returned to act in Michael Mann's film Miami Vice (2006) alongside Jamie Foxx. The film was a film adaptation of the famous television series, and did reasonably well at the box office. Farrell also acted in Ask the Dust (2006) with Salma Hayek and Donald Sutherland, though the film did not receive much distribution. The next year, Farrell acted alongside Ewan McGregor in the Woody Allen film Cassandra's Dream (2007) which received mixed reviews from critics. Farrell followed up with the hilarious black comedy In Bruges (2008). Written and directed by Irish theatre director Martin McDonagh, the film stars Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two Irish hit men whose latest assignment went wrong, leaving them to hide out in Bruges, Belgium. The film has been one of Farrell's most praised work, and he was nominated for a Golden Globe. As well as In Bruges (2008), Farrell acted alongside Edward Norton in the crime film Pride and Glory (2008) which was not as successful as the former film. As well as working with charity, and speaking at the Special Olympics World Games in 2007, he has donated his salary for Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) to Heath Ledger's little daughter (who was left nothing in a will that had not been updated in time). Ledger had originally been cast in the film and was replaced by Farrell, Johnny Depp and Jude Law. The film was a critical and financial success, and Farrell also played a small role in Crazy Heart (2009) which had the Dubliner playing a country singer. Farrell even sang a few songs for the film's soundtrack. As well as those small roles, Farrell took the lead role in the war film Triage (2009). Farrell incredibly lost forty-four pounds to play the role of a war photographer who must come to terms with what he has experienced in Kurdistan. While the film was finely made, with excellent performances from all involved, the film has received almost no distribution.
Farrell's other leading role that year was in Neil Jordan's Irish film Ondine (2009). In recent years, he co-starred in the comedy horror film Fright Night (2011), the science fiction action film Total Recall (2012), both remakes, and McDonagh's second feature, and the black comedy crime film Seven Psychopaths (2012). Since the mid-2000s, Farrell has cleaned up his act, and far from being a Hollywood hell raiser and party animal, he has shown himself to be a respectable and very talented actor.
He also starred in The Lobster (2015) and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), both directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. For The Lobster he was nominated for a Golden Globe.Tony Stark/Iron Man- Actor
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Ethan Green Hawke was born on November 6, 1970 in Austin, Texas, to Leslie Carole (Green), a charity worker, and James Steven Hawke, an insurance actuary. His parents were students at the University of Texas at the time but divorced when Ethan was 5 years old. His mother raised him alone for the next five years, moving around the country, until she remarried in 1981 and the family settled in Princeton Junction, New Jersey.
He attended West Windsor-Plainsboro High School and then transferred to the Hun School of Princeton and it was while he was there that he began taking acting classes at the McCarter Theatre on the Princeton campus. His early ambition had been to be a writer, but as a result of the acting lessons and appearances in student productions he persuaded his mother to allow him to attend an audition for a role in a sci-fi adolescent adventure, Explorers (1985). He got the role (along with River Phoenix) but although the movie was favourably reviewed, it met with little commercial success which discouraged Hawke from pursuing further movie roles for several years.
He was admitted to the prestigious Carnegie-Mellon University to study theatre but his studies were interrupted when he won his break-through role opposite Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society (1989) and he did not complete his degree. He then appeared in numerous films before taking a role in the Generation X drama Reality Bites (1994) for which he received critical praise. He starred in the romantic drama Before Sunrise (1995), and its later sequels Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013).
His subsequent acting career was a mix of theatre work (earning a number of awards and nominations, including a Tony Award nomination for his role in "The Coast of Utopia" at the Lincoln Center in New York), and a mix of serious and more commercial movies, notably Gattaca (1997) (where he met his first wife, Uma Thurman) and Training Day (2001). His role as the father in the coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014) earned him multiple award nominations, including the Academy, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and SAG Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Meanwhile, he also wrote two novels: "The Hottest State" (1996) and "Ash Wednesday" (2002).Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange- Actor
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Joshua David Duhamel was born in Minot, North Dakota. His mother, Bonny L., is a retired high school teacher, and the Executive Director of Minot's Downtown Business & Profession Association, and his father, Larry Duhamel, is an advertisement salesman. Josh has three younger sisters: Ashlee, McKenzee and Kassidy. His ancestry is German, and smaller amounts of Norwegian, French-Canadian, English, Irish, and Austrian (his last name is very common among Francophones in the world). Before his acting career, the football player studied biology and earned his Bachelor's degree at Minot State University with the intention of pursuing dentistry.
At 26 years old, Josh worked in construction, and it was by chance that he got into showbusiness. Modeling eventually gave way to acting as Josh was asked to audition for the title character in The Picture of Dorian Gray (2004), from the novel by Oscar Wilde.
Duhamel can be seen in Vince Gilligan and David Shore's CBS series, "Battle Creek." He is in production on four films: "Lost In The Sun," "Bravetown," "The Wrong Stuff," and "Beyond Deceit."
Duhamel also starred alongside Hillary Swank and Emmy Rossum in the George C. Wolfe directed drama, "You're Not You." Duhamel also starred opposite Julianne Hough in Lasse Hallstrom's "Safe Haven," a drama based on the best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks and the thriller "Scenic Route," which tells the story of two friends stranded in the desert. In addition, Duhamel was seen in the star-studded, ensemble comedy "Movie 43" alongside Emma Stone, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Kate Winslet, Richard Gere among many others. Co-directed by Peter Farrelly and Patrik Forsberg, the film features various intertwining, raunchy tales.
Other projects include Garry Marshall's "New Year's Eve" alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert DeNiro, Halle Berry, and Hilary Swank and Michael Bay's "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," where he reprised his role of Captain William Lennox for the third installment of the franchise. Additional film credits include the romantic comedy "Life as We Know It" alongside Katherine Heigl, "Ramona and Beezus," "When in Rome" and "The Romantics." On television, Josh is best known for his role as Danny McCoy on the NBC crime drama "Las Vegas." Additionally, he lent his voice to Nickelodeon's Emmy Award-winning animated series "Fanboy & Chum Chum" and starred in several seasons of the long-running ABC soap opera "All My Children," in which he received three consecutive Daytime Emmy nominations.
On January 10 2009, Josh married Fergie Duhamel, better known as Fergie from The Black Eyed Peas. They have one child together, Axl Jack Duhamel. They reside in Los Angeles.Blackagar Boltagon/Black Bolt- Director
- Producer
- Stunts
David Leitch is a billion dollar film director, actor, stuntman, writer, producer, and stunt coordinator. He co-directed John Wick (2014) with Chad Stahelski, on which he also served as producer. David directed Atomic Blonde (2017) starring Charlize Theron. David also directed the box office smash and critically acclaimed Deadpool 2 (2018). He is also the director of Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019).
Leitch was a stunt double for Brad Pitt five times, Matt Damon multiple times as well, including The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).Margus- Actor
- Soundtrack
Derek Luke was born on 24 April 1974 in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor, known for Antwone Fisher (2002), Glory Road (2006) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). He has been married to Sophia Adella Luke since 4 April 1999. They have one child.Primus Vand- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Jonathan Niven Cryer is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. Born into a show business family, he made his motion picture debut as a teenager photographer in the 1984 romantic comedy No Small Affair; his breakout role came in 1986, in the John Hughes-written film Pretty in Pink. In 1998, he wrote and produced the independent film Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five.Ronan Kaifi- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Charles Matthew Hunnam was born on April 10, 1980 in Newcastle, England, to Jane (Bell), a business owner, and William Hunnam, a scrap metal merchant. At 18 years of age, he made a guest appearance in popular TV series Byker Grove (1989).
He gained fame in Britain thanks to his television role as the love-smitten Nathan Maloney in Queer as Folk (1999). Independent movies, television series and auditions for such blockbusters as Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) followed, but it wasn't until 2002 that Charlie started to attract international attention, when he supported Katie Holmes in the suspense thriller Abandon (2002).
His first lead role in a film was in Nicholas Nickleby (2002). After which, he played a pivotal character in the strongly cast, adapted drama Cold Mountain (2003). This was Charlie's first part that he has named in his "trilogy of mad men." The two that followed were in Green Street Hooligans and Children of Men. Charlie's role in Green Street Hooligans caught the eye of Kurt Sutter, who chose him to play the protagonist in his TV show Sons of Anarchy. The series about an outlaw motorcycle club became FX's most popular show ever and a critical success. Following his fame on American TV, Charlie had his first starring part in a film that was a commercial success, Pacific Rim.Thor- Producer
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- Actor
Stan Lee was an American comic-book writer, editor, and publisher, who was executive vice president and publisher of Marvel Comics.
Stan was born in New York City, to Celia (Solomon) and Jack Lieber, a dress cutter. His parents were Romanian Jewish immigrants. Lee co-created Spider-Man, the Hulk, Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, Thor, the X-Men, and many other fictional characters, introducing a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. In addition, he challenged the comics' industry's censorship organization, the Comics Code Authority, indirectly leading to it updating its policies. Lee subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
He had cameo appearances in many Marvel film and television projects, with many yet to come, posthumously. A few of these appearances are self-aware and sometimes reference Lee's involvement in the creation of certain characters.
On 16 July 2017, Lee was named a Disney Legend, a hall of fame program that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company.
Stan was married to Joan Lee for almost 70 years, until her death. The couple had two children. Joan died on July 6, 2017. Stan died on November 12, 2018, in LA.Spectator
Hulk Created By- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
German-born composer Hans Zimmer is recognized as one of Hollywood's most innovative musical talents. He featured in the music video for The Buggles' single "Video Killed the Radio Star", which became a worldwide hit and helped usher in a new era of global entertainment as the first music video to be aired on MTV (August 1, 1981).
Hans Florian Zimmer was born in Frankfurt am Main, then in West Germany, the son of Brigitte (Weil) and Hans Joachim Zimmer. He entered the world of film music in London during a long collaboration with famed composer and mentor Stanley Myers, which included the film My Beautiful Laundrette (1985). He soon began work on several successful solo projects, including the critically acclaimed A World Apart, and during these years Zimmer pioneered the use of combining old and new musical technologies. Today, this work has earned him the reputation of being the father of integrating the electronic musical world with traditional orchestral arrangements.
A turning point in Zimmer's career came in 1988 when he was asked to score Rain Man for director Barry Levinson. The film went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture of the Year and earned Zimmer his first Academy Award Nomination for Best Original Score. The next year, Zimmer composed the score for another Best Picture Oscar recipient, Driving Miss Daisy (1989), starring Jessica Tandy, and Morgan Freeman.
Having already scored two Best Picture winners, in the early 1990s, Zimmer cemented his position as a preeminent talent with the award-winning score for The Lion King (1994). The soundtrack has sold over 15 million copies to date and earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Score, a Golden Globe, an American Music Award, a Tony, and two Grammy Awards. In total, Zimmer's work has been nominated for 7 Golden Globes, 7 Grammys and seven Oscars for Rain Man (1988), Gladiator (2000), The Lion King (1994), As Good as It Gets (1997), The The Preacher's Wife (1996), The Thin Red Line (1998), The Prince of Egypt (1998), and The Last Samurai (2003).
With his career in full swing, Zimmer was anxious to replicate the mentoring experience he had benefited from under Stanley Myers' guidance. With state-of-the-art technology and a supportive creative environment, Zimmer was able to offer film-scoring opportunities to young composers at his Santa Monica-based musical "think tank." This approach helped launch the careers of such notable composers as Mark Mancina, John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams, Nick Glennie-Smith, and Klaus Badelt.
In 2000, Zimmer scored the music for Gladiator (2000), for which he received an Oscar nomination, in addition to Golden Globe and Broadcast Film Critics Awards for his epic score. It sold more than three million copies worldwide and spawned a second album Gladiator: More Music From The Motion Picture, released on the Universal Classics/Decca label. Zimmer's other scores that year included Mission: Impossible II (2000), The Road to El Dorado (2000), and An Everlasting Piece (2000), directed by Barry Levinson.
Some of his other impressive scores include Pearl Harbor (2001), The Ring (2002), four films directed by Ridley Scott; Matchstick Men (2003), Hannibal (2001), Black Hawk Down (2001), and Thelma & Louise (1991), Penny Marshall's Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), and A League of Their Own (1992), Tony Scott's True Romance (1993), Tears of the Sun (2003), Ron Howard's Backdraft (1991), Days of Thunder (1990), Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997), and the animated Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) for which he also co-wrote four of the songs with Bryan Adams, including the Golden Globe nominated Here I Am.
At the 27th annual Flanders International Film Festival, Zimmer performed live for the first time in concert with a 100-piece orchestra and a 100-voice choir. Choosing selections from his impressive body of work, Zimmer performed newly orchestrated concert versions of Gladiator, Mission: Impossible II (2000), Rain Man (1988), The Lion King (1994), and The Thin Red Line (1998). The concert was recorded by Decca and released as a concert album entitled "The Wings Of A Film: The Music Of Hans Zimmer."
In 2003, Zimmer completed his 100th film score for the film The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise, for which he received both a Golden Globe and a Broadcast Film Critics nomination. Zimmer then scored Nancy Meyers' comedy Something's Gotta Give (2003), the animated Dreamworks film, Shark Tale (2004) (featuring voices of Will Smith, Renée Zellweger, Robert De Niro, Jack Black, and Martin Scorsese), and Jim Brooks' Spanglish (2004) starring Adam Sandler and Téa Leoni (for which he also received a Golden Globe nomination). His 2005 projects include Paramount's The Weather Man (2005) starring Nicolas Cage, Dreamworks' Madagascar (2005), and the Warner Bros. summer release, Batman Begins (2005).
Zimmer's additional honors and awards include the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in Film Composition from the National Board of Review, and the Frederick Loewe Award in 2003 at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. He has also received ASCAP's Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement. Hans and his wife live in Los Angeles and he is the father of four children.Music- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Production Manager
Kevin Feige is an American film producer who has produced every Marvel Cinematic Universe film since Iron Man. He got his start as an associate and executive producer for the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, Daredevil, The Punisher, Ang Lee's Hulk, the original X-Men trilogy, Blade: Trinity and Tim Story's Fantastic Four films. Avengers: Endgame, one of his produced films is one of the highest grossing superhero films.Producer- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Production Manager
Louis D'Esposito is an American film producer and director who is known for executive producing every Marvel Cinematic Universe film with the exception of 2008's The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton and Liv Tyler. He directed two Marvel One-Shot films: Item 47 and Agent Carter, which spun off into an ABC show.Producer- Producer
- Visual Effects
- Editorial Department
Victoria Alonso was born on 22 December 1965 in La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is a producer, known for Avengers: Endgame (2019), Iron Man (2008) and Kingdom of Heaven (2005).Producer- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Craig Kyle was born on 3 November 1971 in Houston, Texas, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Thor: Ragnarok (2017), The Incredible Hulk (2008) and Iron Man (2008).Producer- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Christopher L. Yost was born on 21 February 1973 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Cowboy Bebop (2021) and Thor: The Dark World (2013).Producer- Producer
- Editorial Department
- Executive
Ryan Kavanaugh was founder and CEO at Relativity Media, which was engaged in multiple aspects of entertainment, including film and television financing; production and distribution; music publishing; sports management and digital media.
Relativity produced, distributed or structured financing for more than 200 motion pictures generating over $17 billion in worldwide box-office revenue and earning 60 Oscar® nominations. In 2011, Kavanaugh was named Variety's Showman of the Year. The Hollywood Reporter honored him with its 2010 Leadership Award and he was honored with the 2009 Hollywood Producer of the Year Award at the 13th Annual Hollywood Awards Gala.
Kavanaugh served as chairman of the board for The Art of Elysium, an organization that encourages artists to donate their time and talents to children battling serious medical conditions. He is a recipient of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Board of Governors' Hollywood Humanitarian Award and the Anti-Defamation League's 2011 Entertainment Industry Award. In recognition of his dedication to helping inner-city youth, Kavanaugh was presented with the Sheriff's Youth Foundation Community Champion Award.Producer- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Emmy and Academy Award-winning producer Brian Grazer has been making movies and television programs for more than 25 years. As both a writer and producer, he has been personally nominated for four Academy Awards, and in 2002 won the Best Picture Oscar for A Beautiful Mind (2001). In addition to winning three other Academy Awards, "A Beautiful Mind" also won four Golden Globe Awards (including Best Motion Picture Drama) and earned Grazer the first annual Awareness Award from the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign.
Over the years, Grazer's films and TV shows have been nominated for 43 Oscars and 198 Emmys. At the same time his movies have generated more than $15 billion in worldwide theatrical, music and video grosses. Reflecting this combination of commercial and artistic achievement, the Producers Guild of America honored Grazer with the David O. Selznick Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. His accomplishments have also been recognized by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which in 1998 added Grazer to the short list of producers with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On March 6, 2003. ShoWest celebrated Grazer's success by honoring him with its Lifetime Achievement Award. On November 14, 2005, Grazer was honored in Los Angeles by the Fulfillment Fund. In May 2007 he was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World." On January 24 Grazer, along with his partner Ron Howard, was honored with the Milestone Award by the Producers Guild of America.
In addition to "A Beautiful Mind", Grazer's films include Apollo 13 (1995), for which Grazer won the Producers Guild's Darryl F. Zanuck Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Picture of 1995; and Splash (1983), which he co-wrote as well as produced and for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay of 1986.
Grazer also produced the film adaptation of Peter Morgan's critically acclaimed play "Frost/Nixon" (Frost/Nixon (2008)), directed by Ron Howard. The film was nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, and was also nominated for The Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures by the PGA.
Grazer also produced Angels & Demons (2009), the adaptation of Dan Brown's bast-selling novel, and Robin Hood (2010), directed by Ridley Scott and with Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and Max von Sydow.
Some more of Grazer's feature film credits include the drama The Changeling (2006), directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Angelina Jolie; the Ridley Scott-directed drama American Gangster (2007), staring Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington; The Da Vinci Code (2006), the film adaptation of Dan Brown's international best-seller, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Oscar-winner Ron Howard; the tense drama The Inside Man (2005), directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster; Flightplan (2005); Cinderella Man (2005); the Sundance acclaimed documentary Inside Deep Throat (2005); the TV series Friday Night Lights (2006); 8 Mile (2002); Blue Crush (2002); Intolerable Cruelty (2003); How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000); The Nutty Professor (1996); Liar Liar (1997); Ransom (1996); My Girl (1991); Backdraft (1991); Kindergarten Cop (1990); Parenthood (1989); Clean and Sober (1988); and Spies Like Us (1985).
Grazer's television productions include Fox's hit Golden Globe and Emmy award winning Best Drama Series 24 (2001), NBC's Peabody Award-winning series "Friday Night Lights" and Fox's Lie to Me (2009), starring Tim Roth, which premiered in January 2009. He is also working on additional television projects including Parenthood (2010), based on his 1989 film, and Wonderland (2000), directed by Peter Berg. His additional television credits include Fox's Emmy award winning-Best Comedy Arrested Development (2003), CBS' Shark (2006), NBC's Miss Match (2003), WB's Felicity (1998), ABC's Sports Night (1998), as well as HBO's From the Earth to the Moon (1998), for which he won the Emmy for Outstanding Mini-Series.
Grazer began his career as a producer, developing television projects. It was while he was executive-producing TV pilots for Paramount Pictures in the early 1980s that Grazer first met Ron Howard, soon to become his friend and business partner. Their collaboration began in 1985 with the hit comedies Night Shift (1982) and Splash (1983), and in 1986 the two founded Imagine Entertainment, which they continue to run together as chairmen.Producer- Producer
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Brian Helgeland was born in Providence, Rhode Island and raised in New Bedford Massachusetts. A born worker, Helgeland has endeavored to achieve in the following fields: snow shoveler, scrap newspaper collector, dishwasher, nursing home janitor, drug store clerk and unreliable nightshift gas station attendant. Facing unemployment after receiving a degree in English, Helgeland fell back on generations of family tradition and took a site as a 'half-share man' on the fishing vessel Mondego II, working the dredges of a deep sea scalloper over 100 miles offshore for two weeks at a time. Fish School. North Atlantic University. After a year at sea, a chance meeting with a book entitled "A Guide To Film School" changed everything. Ignorant as to the existence of such venerable institutions, he applied to several and was accepted by one. Giving up his now 'full-share man' berth on the fishing vessel Concordia, Helgeland headed west in 1985. After getting his break with several low budget horror films, he made his mark with several spec script sales, the flashiest being "The Ticking Man" which he co-wrote with Manny Coto. Two other specs sales to Warner Bros landed him an exclusive writing deal at what was then the greatest movie studio on earth. That deal resulted in seven produced films starting with two for director (and longtime mentor) Richard Donner and ending with two films for Clint Eastwood. In between came the much lauded "LA Confidential" for which Helgeland won an Academy Award finally living up to his grandmother's nickname for him of 'Golden Boy'.
Helgeland's directing career began when Donner gave him an episode of "Tales From The Crypt" to direct. Tired of Helgeland's relentless script note complaints, Donner was eager for him to see how things looked at the trigger end of the gun instead of the barrel. Next up as writer/director was "Payback" which Mel Gibson committed to after leafing through a rough draft version of the script on a Warners ADR stage. Although the director's cut was eventually released, the experience was bittersweet as Paramount demanded a happier ending which Helgeland refused to direct. With the rug pulled out from under him, Helgeland regained momentum with the spec script for "A Knight's Tale". He envisioned the rags to riches story of a peasant determined to prove himself a knight, as a version of his own humble beginnings before moving to Hollywood, but also as the tale of a lowly screenwriter who wants to become a noble director. Columbia Pictures bought the script in a bidding war and mere months later Helgeland found himself in the Czech Republic with Heath Ledger, Paul Bettany and the gang conjuring the story of William Thatcher - aka Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein - in what would become his most fan favorite film.
As solely a screenwriter, the great-never-late Tony Scott is the director he felt closest to sensibility-wise, in that both of them believed that any single moment in a film can be ordinary and absurd and funny and tragic all at the same time. They worked on several projects together - produced and unproduced. "Man On Fire" was their crowning achievement. Helgeland also directed and wrote the film "42" with Chadwick Boseman and "Legend" with Tom Hardy. Both were biopics. His most recent film is "Finestkind" with Ben Foster, Toby Wallace and Jenna Ortega. It is full of truth about people he once knew, but crammed with lies about what they got up to. As he likes to say about writing: "It's okay to lie if you reach a higher truth doing so." Helgeland is an admirer of John Huston, Richard Brooks, Walter Hill, Frank Pierson, Curtis Hanson and all screenwriters who knighted themselves into the director's chair.Writer- Writer
- Producer
- Script and Continuity Department
Zak Penn's career began as a screenwriter when he sold his first script, Last Action Hero, at the age of twenty-three. Since then, Penn has become known for his work on numerous films based on Marvel comics, including X-Men 2 and X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk, and The Avengers. He has also dabbled in other genres, writing scripts for disparate films such as P.C.U., Behind Enemy Lines and Suspect Zero.
Penn's shift into independent cinema began when he collaborated with his idol, Werner Herzog, on the script for Rescue Dawn. Penn directed and co-starred with Herzog in Incident at Loch Ness, his award-winning "hoax" documentary about the legendary director's attempts to make a film about the equally legendary monster. The Grand, Penn's second completely improvised film, was his third film with Herzog, and featured an eclectic cast including Woody Harrelson, David Cross, Ray Romano, Cheryl Hines, Dennis Farina and Gabe Kaplan.
In addition, Penn co-wrote the original story for Antz and produced the animated film Osmosis Jones. His first foray into television was the critically acclaimed SyFy Channel original series "Alphas" starring David Strathairn. His most recent endeavor was video game documentary Atari: Game Over, which recently premiered on Xbox Live.Writer- Writer
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- Editor
Greg Pak is an independent film director whose feature film, Robot Stories (2003), has won many honors, including "Best Feature Film" at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. His short films Asian Pride Porn (2000) and All Amateur Ecstasy (2002) are some of the most popular, downloadable pieces available at AtomFilms.com. Greg's short film Fighting Grandpa (1998) has won twenty prizes, including a Student Oscar, and has been an official selection in over 50 film festivals. His other shorts include: "Mouse," "Po Mo Knock Knock," "Po Mo Love Doc," "Cat Fight Tonight," and "The Penny Marshall Project"; many of which have won honors and have been screened in film festivals all over the world. He was also the cinematographer of The Personals (1999) an Oscar-winning documentary short, and was recently cited as one of the "25 Filmmakers to Watch" by Filmmaker Magazine. Greg majored in Political Science at Yale University, and was a Rhodes Scholar, studying History at Oxford University. Mr. Pak also played "Archie" the android in the segment "Machine Love" of Robot Stories (2003). Greg currently serves as editor and moderator for the sites http://www.filmhelp.com and http://www.asianamericanfilm.com.Based on Planet Hulk by- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Animation Department
Jack "The King" Kirby was an influential comic book writer and artist, particularly famous for creating or co-creating some of the most famous characters for both DC Comics and Marvel Comics.
In 1917, Kirby was born under the name "Jacob Kurtzberg" on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. He was a son of garment factory worker Benjamin Kurtzberg and his wife Rose Bernstein. Both his parents were Austrian-Jewish immigrants.
He developed an interest in drawing at an early age. He was mostly self-taught as an artist, having started by studying newspaper artwork from comic strip artists and political cartoonists. He cited among his main influences comic strip artists Milton Caniff (1907-1988), Hal Foster (1892-1982), and Alex Raymond (1909-1956), who were all pioneers of the adventure genre in comic strips. His professional name "Jack Kirby" was possibly chosen in reference to Rollin Kirby (1875-1952), an influential political cartoonist, who had won three Pulitzer Prizes in the 1920s.
At age 14, Kirby enrolled in Pratt Institute, a prestigious school for illustrators. He dropped out early. According to Kirby, his personal philosophy did not agree with that of the school. He was interested in producing quantities of artwork at a rapid rate and "get things done", while the Institute taught students to devote large amounts of time to a single piece of artwork.
After publishing a few works in outlets for amateur artists, Kirby entered the world of professional cartooning in 1936. He was hired by the Lincoln Newspaper Syndicate to work on comic strips and advice cartoons. He stayed there until 1939. He then briefly joined the field of animation and was hired by the Fleischer Studios. He worked as an in-betweener in animated shorts, drawing intermediate frames between two images to give the appearance that the first image evolves smoothly into the second image. He quit after a short period, feeling dissatisfied with the factory-like conditions at Fleischer.
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the comic book medium was taking off and there were many available positions for writers and artists interested in working in the medium. Kirby soon joined the staff at the Eisner and Iger Studio, working under co-founders Will Eisner and Jerry Iger. The Studio was one of a number of pioneering companies selling completed comic book stories and artwork to the fledgling publishing companies of the time. Under various pseudonyms, Kirby contributed artwork to series in various genres, including humor, science fiction, swashbucklers, and Westerns.
The Eisner and Iger Studio dissolved for uncertain reasons by 1940. By that time comic book publishing companies were starting to hire writers and artists directly, instead of simply buying stories. Kirby found work at one of the publishers of the time, Fox Features Syndicate. Kirby's first superhero stories were Blue Beetle stories. He was not credited as an artist, the credit going to the non-existent "Charles Nicholas".
While working at Fox, Kirby was acquainted with Joe Simon. Simon was producing stories for various publishers and had recently created a superhero called Blue Bolt for Novelty Press. He had seeking for a partner to work on the second issue of Blue Bolt and was impressed enough with Kirby's work to offer him the partnership. Kirby accepted and the duo ended up working together for the following decades.
Simon was soon hired as an editor for Timely Comics (later renamed to Marvel Comics) and was also interested in contributing stories. He had the idea for a new patriotic superhero and managed to convince Timely publisher Martin Goodman that the new hero would work as the star of a solo comic book. This was at the time rare, since most comic book characters were featured in anthology titles. Once securing a publisher, Simon asked Kirby to join him in working on the character. The new character was called Captain America and debuted in 1941. Despite its strong similarities to an earlier MLJ Comics character called The Shield, Captain America became the most successful of the two characters and the fist two issues of his title were major best sellers of the comic book medium. This helped establish co-creators Simon and Kirby among the most famous comic creators of the time.
Despite the commercial success of Captain America, Kirby was not paid more than the average comic book artist of the time: 75 dollars per week. He and Simon continued working on the Captain America series until issue #10 while secretly negotiating a deal with another publisher. An early incarnation of DC Comics was offering them a combined weekly salary of 500 dollars if they switched publishers. The switch was formalized by 1942.
At first DC was uncertain on what work to assign Simon and Kirby. After a few minor assignments, they were asked to contribute their own story ideas. The duo soon took over the already established Sandman series featured in Adventure Comics and revamped the character. They also created a new version of the Manhunter, this time as a superhero. Kirby and Simon wanted to name the character "Rick Nelson", but the editor changed the name to "Paul Kirk", essentially naming him after an earlier character called Paul Kirk, Manhunter.
Simon and Kirby found more success with a non-superhero idea. They created the Boy Commandos, a combination of the "kid gang" concept that was already established in comic books, this time with a then-modern war setting. The Commandos soon became one of the most popular DC series of their time, graduated to their own title, and reportedly sold "over a million copies each month". In their heyday, the commandos were the third highest selling characters DC had in its stable. Only Superman and Batman actually sold more.
Besides the Boy Commandos, Simon and Kirby co-created another "kid gang" for DC: the Newsboy Legion. While never as popular as the Commandos, they became the feature characters of Star-Spangled Comics and were considered a hit in their own right.
Kirby's comic book career had to be put in hiatus in 1943, when he was drafted into the United States Army. While he never took part in any major battle, he was deployed in the European theatre of World War II in 1944. Following the Invasion of Normandy, Kirby was tasked with drawing reconnaissance maps and images of areas which the Army was considering to occupy. He was effectively a military scout and reconnaissance agent, and his work put him at risk. A case of severe frostbite in the winter of 1944-1945 resulted in his hospitalization. There were fears that his feet would have to be amputated for him to survive, though he managed to recover with no amputation necessary. He was discharged from the Army in July, 1945, having been awarded medals for his service.
Following his discharge from the Army, Kirby was reunited with Simon. Simon had spend the majority of the War serving in the United States Coast Guard. They were both looking for a way to return to comic book work, though their old jobs at DC had been taken by other creators. They spend the next several years working for Harvey Comics. For Harvey, the duo created some original characters such, as the superheroes Stuntman (1946) and Captain 3-D (1953). However, these characters were not as popular as their earlier creations.
Besides their relatively steady work for Harvey, Simon and Kirby freelanced for other publishers. Their employers of the time included publishers such as Crestwood Publications and Hillman Periodicals. For Crestwood, Simon and Kirby created one of their greatest hits: Young Romance, the first of the romance comics. At the time traditional comic book genres such as superheroes were in decline and publishers and creators were looking for new ideas. Simon and Kirby noticed that romance magazines of the 1940s sold well and had the idea of adapting the genre to comic books. It worked far better than expected. Young Romance and its spin-off series Young Love continued to sell millions of copies for years.
Due to the "follow the leader" mentality of comic book publishers of the time, other publishers soon published their own romance comics. Though few managed to successfully compete with the Simon and Kirby created titles, who were considered better in quality than most of their imitators. The success had an effect in the lives of the duo. Simon and Kirby had negotiated a contract which earned them a large percentage from the profits. Kirby earned more money than ever before and was able to purchase a new home for his family.
In 1953-1954, Simon and Kirby were annoyed to find out that Atlas Comics (the then-current name of Marvel Comics) was reviving Captain America. They had never asked for any input from Simon and Kirby to do this, nor offered to rehire them. Seeking for a way to outdo their old creation, the duo created a new superhero called Fighting American (1954) for Crestwood Publications. At first conceived as a serious 1950s take on the old patriotic hero concept, Fighting American's series soon became largely satirical. It never sold well and did not last long, though it has left enough of a mark in the comic book medium to be constantly reprinted and occasionally revived from a relatively high number of publishers.
In late 1953-1954, Simon and Kirby founded their own comic book publishing company: Mainline Publications. At the time the comic book industry was under attack by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham (1895-1981) and politician Estes Kefauver (1903-1963). Many of the older comic book publishers were affected by the controversy and the resulting drop in sales, either getting out of the business or reducing their output. There was still a high demand for new material and Mainline Publications hoped to fill the void left by the demise of the older publishers.
Simon and Kirby's plans for their company turned out to be too optimistic. They published only four titles, all in established genres. They were "Bullseye: Western Scout" (a Western), "Foxhole" (a war comic), "In Love" (a romance comic), and "Police Trap" (a crime comic). None of them was a great success in sales, but they were noticed by Wertham, who used them as exhibits of comic book "filth". At the same time, Simon and Kirby entered into a complex legal battle with Crestwood Publications. They claimed their former employer owed them at least 130,000 dollars, but the case was settled out of court with the payment of only 10,000 dollars. It was not not enough to solve ongoing financial problems for Mainline Publications, which closed in 1956.
The partnership of Simon and Kirby did not survive the demise of their company. Simon was considering leaving the comic book medium altogether and seeking employment as an advertising artist, but Kirby wanted to keep working in his original medium. They parted amiably. Several of the unpublished material for Mainline Publications was sold to Charlton Comics. Kirby was left with an unused idea for a new team of adventurers. He would continue developing the idea over the following year, and eventually sell it to DC Comics. It was the the earliest incarnation of Challengers of the Unknown, though Kirby did not stay with DC long enough to further develop it.
From 1956 to 1958, Kirby was producing freelance work for DC Comics and Atlas Comics (Marvel Comics), mostly as a writer and penciller, and occasionally as an inker. He contributed stories for characters such as the Green Arrow and the Yellow Claw, though he did not create any major characters of his own. His take on Green Arrow was considered controversial, as Kirby included more science-fiction themes in the stories and was trying to revamp the character. Green Arrow co-creator Mort Weisinger reportedly hated Kirby's concept for the character.
In addition to comic books, Kirby co-created a comic strip called "Sky Masters of the Space Force" (1958). It was a science fiction comic book set in the near-future. It was a minor hit but got Kirby in a legal dispute with Jack Schiff, editor of DC. Schiff had helped bring Kirby in contact with his collaborators for the comic strip. He claimed that Kirby owed him a share of the strip's profits. The matter was settled in court and Schiff won the trial. This helped severe Kirby's relations with DC, and he soon quit the comic strip as well.
In late 1958, Kirby started producing more work for Atlas Comics (Marvel Comics). For various reasons Atlas had lost much of its creative personnel and there was a need for the remaining staff to increase its productivity. Kirby decided he could use some extra money and started mass producing art for Atlas. He became arguably the most prolific artist of the company, with his artwork appearing in almost any ongoing title. His best-remembered production from this time involved anthology stories for Atlas' series of supernatural-fantasy and science fiction titles. They were minor hits of their time and considered classics by later Marvel artists and readers. Most of his creations were supposed to be one-shot characters, but some of his characters have been revived and have made appearances in several works by other creators. They include characters such as Fin Fang Foom, Groot, and Grottu.
Kirby still did not work exclusively for Atlas. He collaborated with Joe Simon to create two more superheroes for Archie Comics. They were the Fly (1959) and a new incarnation of the Shield, called Lancelot Strong (1959). He also worked for the "Classics Illustrated" comic book series by The Gilberton Company, Inc.
In 1961, Atlas/Marvel editor-in-chief Stan Lee wanted to create a new superhero team to compete with DC's Justice League of America, which was turning out to be a hit. He decided to collaborate with Kirby in creating the team, the result being the Fantastic Four. For the first story of the new team, Lee created a synopsis of what he wanted the story to be like. Kirby then incorporated his own ideas and drew the whole story. Then Lee added his own dialogue to the finished artwork and narrative captions. The finished story was then offered for further inking, coloring, and eventual publication. This was the so-called "Marvel Method" of producing stories, where both co-creators had considerable influence on what was being created.
In later years, both Kirby and Lee would argue over who was the true creator of the Fantastic Four and the driving force behind the series. They both claimed that they came up with most of the concepts and that their collaborator only added relatively insignificant details. A number of comic book historians have tried to determine which version was true, though no definite evidence can be produced. Historian Mark Evanier, who has written a biography of Kirby, has argued that none of the two versions were true. He has argued that the two men were equal collaborators and that the credit for the series belongs to both of them.
The Fantastic Four title became a commercial hit and Kirby was its main artist for the first 102 issues (November, 1961-September, 1970). Atlas/Marvel soon launched a new line of titles, with Kirby serving as an artist for most of them. Besides contributing artwork and plots, Kirby was asked to train other Marvel artists in how to draw the characters. He provided "breakdown" layouts and the other artists would learn to draw based on them. Before long, Kirby's style had become Marvel's new house style. This did not prevent his personal style from further evolving, by incorporating new drawing techniques and other experiments.
In the 1960s, Kirby created or co-created hundreds of major and minor characters for Marvel Comics. Among his major creations were Doctor Doom (1962), the Hulk (1962), Thor (1962), Iron Man (1963), Magneto (1963), Uatu the Watcher (1963), the original X-Men (1963), the Inhumans (1965), the Black Panther (1966), Ego the Living Planet (1966), Galactus (1966), and the Silver Surfer (1966). For some of them Kirby only contributed their debut stories, for others entire runs of featured stories. He also helped revive older characters, such as Captain America, Namor, and Ka-Zar (who was given an entirely different setting and backstory).
By the early 1970s, Kirby felt increasingly dissatisfied with his working relationship with Marvel. He was paid much better than before, earning about 35,000 dollars per year. But he felt that he was not given adequate credit for his own creations, that his plot contributions went mostly uncredited, and that Marvel was earning much more money from characters that he had created. He consequently left Marvel. He was hired by DC Comics, as the result of a deal with editorial director Carmine Infantino.
Kirby's contract with DC, produced in 1970, gave him essentially a free reign as writer and penciller in whatever title he worked on. He soon worked in four inter-connected titles. They were the already established (but low-selling) title Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen (which had no one assigned to it so Kirby could take it over without having someone lose their job) and the new titles New Gods, Mister Miracle, and the Forever People. The concept of the titles became known as Jack Kirby's Fourth World.
The idea for the so-called New Gods had reportedly come to Kirby a few years earlier, while he was working on the "Tales of Asgard" sub-series for Marvel's "Thor" title. He wanted to produce a story about two planets at war with each other and the grand finale would be the Ragnarok ("Twilight of the Gods"), the battle that ends the gods at the finale of Norse mythology. Marvel never allowed him to work on such a story, DC on the other hand did. Kirby came up with the idea of the New Gods born out of the death of the old ones. He soon developed an entirely new mythology for his creations, combining disparate ideas from multiple sources. The scope was epic.
Kirby at first intended to tell a finite story about the New Gods. It would have a start, several chapters, and a definite conclusion. But the titles initially sold too well and DC argued against the idea, wanting the tales to continue indefinitely. Kirby was forced to compromise and the story continued, though sales soon dropped. "New Gods" and the Forever people were canceled in 1972. Mister Miracle continued under Kirby until 1974, though the stories became a bit more conventional.
Though Kirby's take on the New Gods and associated characters was considered a bit too weird for mainstream comics, DC never completely lost interest in the characters. They were revived by later creators, reused for decades, and a few (like Darkseid) went on to play prominent roles in the wider DC multiverse. Meanwhile Kirby went on to work in other series.
The other 1970s DC characters created or co-created by Kirby included Etrigan the Demon (1972), Kamandi (1972), OMAC (1974), a new version of Sandman (1974), Atlas (1975), a new version of Manhunter (1975), the Dingbats of Danger Street (1975) and Kobra (1976). All these characters were considered as series protagonists, and some of them did receive their own title. However, none of them enjoyed long-term success.
In 1975, Marvel Comics announced that Kirby would return to work with them. He was soon producing new runs as sole writer and penciller of "Black Panther" and "Captain America". His most enduring work, however, was in the creation of new series and characters. His best known work was "The Eternals" (1976-1978), a 19-issue series about immortal gods active on modern Earth. It was very similar in concept to the New Gods. The human-looking gods were called Eternals, their demonic looking counterparts were the Deviants, and they were both inferior to the mysterious space gods called the Celestials. The series was never a best-seller but has its dedicated fans. The characters and concepts have been incorporated to the wider Marvel multiverse, with several other creators adding to them over the decades.
Somewhat less ambitious were the rest of the Kirby creations of the 1970s for Marvel. They included Machine Man (1977) and Devil Dinosaur (1978). Each held its own short-lived series, but enduring success eludes them. They still have enough fans to warrant several revivals over the following decades.
Kirby left Marvel in 1978 to return to the field of animation, after an absence of nearly 40 years. He spend much of the late 1970s and 1980s working on television animated series such as "Thundarr the Barbarian" and "The Centurions". Futhermore, Kirby found the experience much more satisfying, considering he was in a senior creative post as production designer and worked with young employees who did the more laborious work of animation. They treated him with far more respect than the people in the comic book industry.
Never satisfied with his lack of creative control over his older creations, Kirby briefly returned to comic books with the creator-owned series "Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers" (1981-1984). It was intended as his own sequel to the New Gods. The title character, Captain Victory, was implied to be the son and heir of Orion. His supposed grandfather "Blackmaas" was a look-alike of Darkseid.
In the mid-1980s, when the Kenner toy company judged his New Gods villains, like Darkseid, ideal antagonists for the Super Powers Collection toy-line, DC asked Kirby to design the action figure versions for character. He received royalties for the use of his character designs, the only time he was so compensated. He also returned to his characters in the DC graphic novel called The Hunger Dogs!.
In the early 1990s, Kirby licensed his creator owned-characters to Topps Comics. Existing characters and unused Kirby-produced concepts from earlier decades were used for the so-called Kirbyverse line of comic books. Kirby himself did not contribute new work to Topps. He attempted to make a comeback to the comic book medium with a comic book series called "Phantom Force", but died in 1994 before its publication.
Some of Kirby's unpublished work has seen posthumous publication. His creator-owned characters were inherited by his family and have continued to appear in new works by various publishers. The Kirby family has repeatedly attempted to claim partial ownership over Jack Kirby's Marvel creations, though their legal efforts have so far been unsuccessful. The Kirby family has not disputed the ownership of his DC creations.Hulk Created by- Producer
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Described by film producer Michael Deeley as "the very best eye in the business", director Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. His father was an officer in the Royal Engineers and the family followed him as his career posted him throughout the United Kingdom and Europe before they eventually returned to Teesside. Scott wanted to join the British Army (his elder brother Frank had already joined the Merchant Navy) but his father encouraged him to develop his artistic talents instead and so he went to West Hartlepool College of Art and then London's Royal College of Art where he helped found the film department.
In 1962, he joined the BBC as a trainee set designer working on several high profile series. He attended a trainee director's course while he was there and his first directing job was on an episode of the popular BBC police series Z Cars (1962), Error of Judgement (1965). More TV work followed until, frustrated by the poor financial rewards at the BBC, he went into advertising. With his younger brother, Tony Scott, he formed the advertising production company RSA (Ridley Scott Associates) in 1967 and spent the next 10 years making some of the best known and best loved TV adverts ever shown on British television, including a series of ads for Hovis bread set to the music of Dvorak's New World Symphony which are still talked about today ("'e were a great baker were our dad.")
He began working with producer David Puttnam in the 1970s developing ideas for feature films. Their first joint endeavor, The Duellists (1977) won the Jury Prize for Best First Work at Cannes in 1977 and was nominated for the Palm d'Or, more than successfully launching Scott's feature film career. The success of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) inspired Scott's interest in making science fiction and he accepted the offer to direct Dan O'Bannon's low budget science fiction horror movie Alien (1979), a critical and commercial success that firmly established his worldwide reputation as a movie director.
Blade Runner (1982) followed in 1982 to, at best, a lukewarm reception from public and critics but in the years that followed, its reputation grew - and Scott's with it - as one of the most important sci-fi movies ever made. Scott's next major project was back in the advertising world where he created another of the most talked-about advertising spots in broadcast history when his "1984"-inspired ad for the new Apple Macintosh computer was aired during the Super Bowl on January 22, 1984. Scott's movie career has seen a few flops (notably Legend (1985) and 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)), but with successes like Thelma & Louise (1991), Gladiator (2000) and Black Hawk Down (2001) to offset them, his reputation remains solidly intact.
Ridley Scott was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire at the 2003 Queen's New Year Honours for his "substantial contribution to the British film industry". On July 3, 2015, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Royal College of Art in a ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship in 2018. BAFTA described him as "a visionary director, one of the great British film-makers whose work has made an indelible mark on the history of cinema. Forty years since his directorial debut, his films continue to cross the boundaries of style and genre, engaging audiences and inspiring the next generation of film talent."Director