Simon Kinberg
| Simon Kinberg | |
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 Kinberg at the 2008 Screenwriting Expo |
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| Born | August 2, 1973 London, England |
Simon Kinberg (born August 2, 1973) is an English-born American screenwriter of American films.
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[edit] Life and career
He was born in London, England. He is Jewish.[1] His family moved to the United States. He was raised in Los Angeles, California. Kinberg attended Brentwood School in Los Angeles, California and graduated in 1991. He later graduated from Brown University, Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude, and received his MFA from Columbia University Film School.
While still in film school, Kinberg sold a pitch to Warner Brothers, then went on to write scripts for Disney, Sony, and DreamWorks, working with Steven Spielberg, Jerry Bruckheimer, McG, and others. After finishing school, Kinberg moved to Hollywood, where his first screenwriting credit was a sequel to the smash hit action film xXx (2002), xXx: State of the Union. The film was a disappointment, but his next screenwriting venture was the screenplay for Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
[edit] Mr and Mrs Smith
Doug Liman's 2005 film Mr. & Mrs. Smith, starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The script began as Kinberg's thesis project for film school. It went on to gross over $475 million worldwide. It won MTV Movie Awards and People's Choice Awards. Kinberg also wrote the pilot episode for a television adaptation of Mr. & Mrs. Smith for ABC TV.
[edit] X-Men: The Last Stand
Kinberg's next screenwriting job was the highly anticipated sequel to X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), which he co-wrote with Zak Penn. The film made $123 million on its opening weekend, one of the biggest openings in history. It went on to gross over $460 million worldwide, making it the most successful film in the franchise. Comic-book writer Chris Claremont wrote the novelization of the film, and he made Kinberg a character in the book.
[edit] Jumper
Kinberg reunited with director Doug Liman for the film Jumper (2008). Kinberg wrote and produced the movie, which stars Samuel L. Jackson, Hayden Christensen, and Diane Lane. The film opened number one at the box office on Presidents Day 2008, and made more than $225 million worldwide. The film spawned a comic book and video game.
[edit] Sherlock Holmes
Kinberg was the final writer for Sherlock Holmes, directed by Guy Ritchie, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, respectively. The film was released by Warner Brothers on Christmas 2009 and set the record for the biggest opening day ($25 million) and biggest opening weekend ($65 million) in Christmas history. Robert Downey, Jr. won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his portrayal of the famous detective. The film was nominated for several awards, including two nominations at the 82nd Academy Awards. The final worldwide gross for the film was over $520 million.
[edit] X-Men: First Class
Kinberg was the producer of X-Men: First Class at 20th Century Fox, directed by Matthew Vaughn, starring James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. The film opened June 3, 2011, number one at the box office, and 87% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and grossed more than $350 million worldwide.
[edit] Other films
Kinberg was an uncredited script doctor for Fantastic Four (2005), Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), Date Night (2010), Knight and Day (2010), and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011).
Kinberg was the writer and producer of the film This Means War, starring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, and Tom Hardy, released February 17, 2012.
[edit] Future projects
He is producing Elysium directed by Neill Blomkamp, starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, which will be released March 1, 2013.
In addition, he is the Executive Producer and co-writer of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter directed by Timur Bekmambetov, and he is producing a new live-action version of Cinderella at Disney to be directed by Mark Romanek.
His other reported projects include the script for Shawn Levy's The Hardy Men, an adaptation of The Hardy Boys starring Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller. He is also currently writing an original script for Nicole Kidman, based on an idea they created together and sold to Twentieth Century Fox, and writing an original script with Aline Brosh McKenna for producer J. J. Abrams at Paramount.
In television, he has a blind script deal with Jerry Bruckheimer and Warner Brothers. His production company Genre Films has a first look deal with Twentieth Century Fox.
[edit] Awards and honors
In 2005, Simon received the Movieline magazine award for Screenwriter of the Year, and was named New Power Screenwriter of the Year by Premiere Magazine. Kinberg's films have grossed over a billion dollars worldwide. Simon was awarded the commencement speaker for Brentwood School in Los Angeles in 2009.
[edit] TV appearances
Kinberg was featured in The Dialogue interview series. In this 90 minute interview with producer Mike DeLuca, Kinberg reveals his inspiration—from breakdancing movies to mentor Akiva Goldsman, and what you do and don’t learn at film school.
