Neil Marshall

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Neil Marshall

Neil Marshall promoting The Descent at Comic Con 2006
Born 25 May 1970 (1970-05-25) (age 39)
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Occupation Film director and screenwriter
Spouse(s) Axelle Carolyn (2007 - present)

Neil Marshall (born 25 May 1970) is a film director and screenwriter. Marshall began his career in editing and in 2002 directed his first feature film Dog Soldiers, which became a cult film. He followed up with the critically acclaimed horror film The Descent in 2005. Marshall also directed Doomsday in 2008 and is currently filming Centurion.

Contents

[edit] Background

Marshall was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He was first inspired to become a film director when he saw Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) at the age of eleven. He began making home movies using Super 8 mm film,[1] and in 1989, he attended film school at Newcastle Polytechnic (now Northumbria University). In the next eight years, he worked as a freelance editor. In 1995, he was hired to co-write and edit for director Bharat Nalluri's first film, Killing Time. Marshall continued to write and develop his own projects, directing his first film in 2002, Dog Soldiers, a horror film that became a cult film in the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2005, he followed up with a second horror film, The Descent (2005). [2] With his direction of The Descent, Neil Marshall was identified as a member of the Splat Pack.[3]

Marshall identified nine of his "guilty pleasures" in cinema: 1941 (1979), Battle Beyond the Stars (1980), Excalibur (1981), Top Secret! (1984), Race for the Yankee Zephyr (1981), High Risk (1976), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982), and The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972).[4]

[edit] Recognition

Marshall won the British Independent Film Award for "Best Director of a British Independent Film" for The Descent.[2] The horror film also won a Saturn Award for Best Horror Film.[5]

[edit] Filmography

Year Film Credit Notes
1998 Killing Time Writer, editor Co-wrote with Caspar Berry and Fleur Costello
2002 Dog Soldiers Director, writer, editor
2005 The Descent Director, writer Won British Independent Film Award for Best Director of a British Independent Film and won Saturn Award for Best Horror Film
2008 Doomsday Director, writer, editor
2009 The Descent 2 Executive producer Post-production
2009 Centurion Director, writer Post-production

[edit] Planned projects

  • Outpost was a project that Neil Marshall announced after completing The Descent. He described the premise to be zombies terrorizing an oil ring,[6] but he placed the film on hold for the time being.[7]
  • The Eagle's Nest is a planned project that Marshall described as a World War II action-adventure that would be a hybrid of Die Hard (1988) and The Remains of the Day (1993).[8] He said the film was an action adventure tribute to films like Where Eagles Dare (1968) and The Eagle Has Landed (1976). The premise would be about a rescue attempt for a parachutist, Rudolph Hess, who lands in Scotland during World War II. The rescue is botched, and Hess is taken by a German unit to a country castle.[7]
  • The Sword and the Fury is a planned project about a heist that takes place in medieval times. The story takes place 30 years after the death of King Arthur when his sword Excalibur is stolen. Arthur's queen Guinevere hires a band of thieves to steal it back.[7]
  • Sacrilege is a planned project that takes place in the Old West. Marshall described the film, "It is set during the Gold Rush, a time remembered for incidents like the Donner Party. It is meant to be a pitch-black, gritty, period horror movie." The film will be themed on paranoia and isolation, and the director will draw inspiration from the 1982 film The Thing. "This is Unforgiven by way of H.P. Lovecraft, with that grim, gritty setting and a horror element nobody has seen before," Marshall said.[9]
  • Drive is a planned project about a Hollywood stunt driver who is also a getaway driver in heists, based on the novel by James Sallis. Hugh Jackman is contracted to play the stunt driver.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Muller, Bill (4 August 2006). "Director rises to 'Descent'". The Arizona Republic. 
  2. ^ a b "Neil Marshall". bifa.org.uk. British Independent Film Awards. http://www.bifa.org.uk/person/355/Neil_Marshall.html. Retrieved 24 June 2008. 
  3. ^ Keegan, Rebecca Winters (22 October 2006). "The Splat Pack". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1549299-1,00.html. Retrieved 24 June 2008. 
  4. ^ Marshall, Neil (Jul/Aug 2006). "Guilty Pleasures: Neil Marshall, Director of The Descent". Film Comment 42 (4): 10. 
  5. ^ "Past Saturn Awards". Saturn Awards. Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html#horror. Retrieved 24 June 2008. 
  6. ^ "Exclusive: Marshall on Zombie Sex, Descent 2 and More!!". Bloody-Disgusting.com. 2006-07-23. http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/6843. Retrieved 2007-06-08. 
  7. ^ a b c Chris Tilly (14 July 2005). "Neil Marshall to enter 'Eagle's Nest'". Time Out. http://www.timeout.com/film/news/529.html. Retrieved 8 June 2007. 
  8. ^ Chris Tilly (13 June 2005). "Neil Marshall returns to horror". Time Out. http://www.timeout.com/film/news/480.html. Retrieved 8 June 2007. 
  9. ^ Michael Fleming (10 March 2008). "Marshall to direct Rogue's 'Sacrilege'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117982160.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved 13 March 2008. 
  10. ^ "Marshall Directing Jackman in Drive". Variety. 20 March 2008. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=43135. Retrieved 20 March 2008. 
  11. ^ Neil Marshall to Direct 'Burst 3D' for Lionsgate
  12. ^ Neil Marshall is Ready to Burst!
  13. ^ Neil Marshall to BURST out in 3-D for Lionsgate

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Neil Marshall
Dog Soldiers (2002) • The Descent (2005) • Doomsday (2008) • Centurion (TBA)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Marshall"