David Franzoni
| David Franzoni | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 4, 1947 |
| Occupation | Director, producer, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1980-present |
David Harold Franzoni (born March 4, 1947) is an American screenwriter. His best known screenplays include King Arthur, Gladiator, Amistad, and Jumpin' Jack Flash.
Franzoni has close connections with both DreamWorks Pictures and Steven Spielberg.
When he graduated from the University of Vermont in the 1970s he took a motorcycle trip across the world, going from Europe to the Middle East, South Asia, and Australia. He is a fan and collector of motorcycles to this day.
His son Hudson, is a singer/songwriter based out of Los Angeles.
Origins of selected projects:
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" (directed by Penny Marshall) was an original script of Franzoni's, but a serious thriller, never envisioned as a comedy. As a spec. script, it was his first sale and began his career as a professional screenwriter. While working on a rewrite for this project with Michael Apted at Warner Brothers, and while beginning a project for Ron Howard (also at Warner Brothers) Franzoni was shot outside his apartment in Mid-Wilshire, and to this day treasures a voice mail from Ron calling to see if David was "still with us".
After "Jumpin' Jack Flash", Franzoni adapted the book "Citizen Cohen" (directed by Frank Pierson) for HBO for which he won the Cable Ace; Pen Center West Literary Award; Peabody Award; and was nominated for an Emmy.
After working with Oliver Stone on an original project about George Washington and the American revolution, he adapted Randy Shilts bio of Harvey Milk, "The Mayor of Castro Street", for Oliver, Neil Meron and Craig Zadan. Neither script was produced, though Franzoni continues to struggle to get the Washington script produced.
"Amistad" was a dream project for Franzoni and was written for Spielberg (who directed) at the inception of Dream Works SKG.
"Gladiator" (directed by Ridley Scott) was an original idea that Franzoni began concocting when he was twenty-two, living in Baghdad (on his motorcycle journey), long before he became a screenwriter. And, while staying in Rome with his family and writing "Amistad", Franzoni began outlining his final pitch for "Gladiator" which Steven commissioned upon the completion of "Amistad". Franzoni was nominated for Oscar for Best original screenplay and won the Oscar as producer for Best Picture. He was nominated for a BAFTA for best screenplay and won the BAFTA for best picture. He also won the Golden Globe for best picture. (The final draft of "Gladiator" before production, was completed in Huahine, Tahiti.)
Franzoni then wrote the epic story of "Hannibal The Conqueror" based on the novel by Ross Leckie for Revolution Pictures and Vin Diesel. This project remains active with Franzoni and Vin still developing the script.
"King Arthur" (directed by Antoine Fuqua) was an original script and "take" on the timeless legend of the mythic King Arthur, based on the historical works of Dr. Linda Malcor and her co-author, C. Scott Littleton. As an interesting note, the English generally did not take kindly to the story's interpretation, and sued Disney for "false advertising". But the English regulatory arm sided with the filmmakers after reviewing Franzoni's research and dismissed the suit.
Most currently, Franzoni completed a feature length animation piece based on the children's book: "Dinotrux" for DreamWorks Animation; a script on "Blackbeard" the pirate for DreamWorks/Paramount and is working on two projects with long time friend (and "King Arthur" director) Antoine Fuqua: "Eagles of Rome", a rewrite/adaptation of an early Sergio Leone script and "Love Affair of the Tang Empire", a project produced by the Chinese based company Qujiang Film, to be shot in the fall of 2012 in China.
[edit] External links
David Franzoni at the Internet Movie Database
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