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Vincenzo Natali

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Vincenzo Natali
Natali at the 2010 ComicCon
Born1969 (age 54–55)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
NationalityCanadian
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter
Years active1997–present

Vincenzo Natali (born 1969)[1] is an American-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, known for writing and directing science fiction and horror films such as Cube, Cypher, Nothing, and Splice.

Early life and education

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Natali was born in Detroit, to a nursery school teacher/painter mother and a photographer father.[1] He is of Italian and English descent.[1] He moved to Toronto, along with his family, at the age of one. During his time at Royal St. George's College, Natali befriended British-born Canadian actor David Hewlett, who has appeared in the majority of films that Natali has directed. Natali also attended the film programme at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute. He was eventually hired as a storyboard artist at the Nelvana Animation Studios.[2] His cinematic influences included Samuel Beckett, David Cronenberg,[3] and Terry Gilliam.[4]

Career

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Natali's directing debut came in 1997, when he directed Cube which he also co-wrote.[5] The film became a success worldwide, especially in Japan and France, grossing over $10 million in the latter country,[6] and breaking box office records for a Canadian film. At the 19th Genie Awards, the film received five nominations, and also won the award for Best Canadian First Feature at the Toronto International Film Festival. After this success, Natali went on to direct Cypher (2002) and Nothing (2003).[7]

Following the June 2010 release of Splice (2009),[8] Natali's next efforts were expected to be an adaptation of J. G. Ballard's 1975 novel High Rise[9] and a 3D adaptation of the Len Wein/Berni Wrightson comic book character Swamp Thing,[10] for producer Joel Silver.[11] A May 2010 item in The Hollywood Reporter, however, announced that Natali was to replace Joseph Kahn as director of the highly anticipated adaptation of cyberpunk author William Gibson's 1984 novel Neuromancer.[12]

Natali was nominated for the 4th Annual Splatcademy Awards under the category "Best Director" presented by Cadaver Lab for his work Splice.[13] In 2013 his series Darknet, an adaptation of the Japanese series Tori Hada, began airing on Super Channel in Canada. In 2014, he directed the episodes "Su-zakana" and "Naka-choko" of the second season of the crime drama series Hannibal and in 2015 the episodes "Antipasto", "Primavera" and "Secondo" of the third season of the same TV series.[14] in 2015, he also directed the second episode (entitled "Simon") of the first season of the American supernatural drama television series The Returned. In 2016, he directed the fourth episode ("Dissonance Theory") of the HBO series Westworld. In 2017, he directed the fifth episode ("Lemon Scented You") of the Starz series American Gods. He directed a pilot for a new Tremors TV series starring Kevin Bacon reprising his role from the 1990 film but it was not picked up by SyFy as a series.[15]

A television adaptation of William Gibson's The Peripheral was put into development in April 2018 by Amazon,[16] with Natali among the executive producers.[17] Natali directed the show's pilot, plus three other episodes of the first season.[18]

He has directed the last 2 episodes of the first season for the Locke & Key TV series, distributed by Netflix.

In 2024, he was awarded the Trailblazer Award at the 28th Fantasia International Film Festival.[19]

Filmography

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Short film

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Year Title Director Writer Notes
1996 Elevated Yes Yes
2006 Quartier de la Madeleine Yes Yes Segment of Paris, je t'aime
2014 U is for Utopia Yes Yes Segment of ABCs of Death 2

Executive producer

  • Eyes on the Road (2006)
  • Cube (2021)

Feature film

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Year Title Director Writer Executive
Producer
1997 Cube Yes Yes No
2002 Cypher Yes No No
2003 Nothing Yes Yes Yes
2009 Splice Yes Yes No
2011 388 Arletta Avenue No No Yes
2013 Haunter Yes No Yes
2018 Come True No No Yes
2019 In the Tall Grass Yes Yes Yes

Documentary

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Year Title Notes
2005 Getting Gilliam Documentary on the making of Terry Gilliam's Tideland

Television

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Year Title Episode
1996 Space Cases "The Sporting Kind"
1998 PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal "Pentimento"
1998–1999 Earth: Final Conflict "Payback"
"Friendly Fire"
2013 Darknet Episode 1 , also executive producer
2014–2015 Hannibal "Su-zakana"
"Naka-Choko"
"Antipasto"
"Primavera"
"Secondo"
"Dolce"
2014 Hemlock Grove "Gone Sis"
Ascension "Chapter Two: Part 1"
2015 The Returned "Simon"
Orphan Black "Insolvent Phantom of Tomorrow"
2015–2016 The Strain "Fallen Light"
"The Night Train"
"Do or Die"
2016 Wayward Pines "City Upon a Hill"
Luke Cage "Step in the Arena"
2016–2018 Westworld "Dissonance Theory"
"Reunion"
2017 American Gods "Lemon Scented You"
2018 Lost in Space "Eulogy"
2020 Locke & Key "Echoes"
"Crown of Shadows"
The Stand "The Walk"
"The Stand"
2022 Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities "The Graveyard Rats"
The Peripheral "Pilot", also executive producer

References

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  1. ^ a b c Jarecki, Nicholas (2001). Breaking in: how 20 film directors got their start. Random House of Canada. pp. 75. ISBN 0-7679-0674-8.
  2. ^ Northern Stars: Vincenzo Natali Archived 2007-08-05 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Riser, Troy (21 October 2005). "Interview: Vincenzo Natali: Turtles All The Way Down". the-trades.com. The Trades. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2011. There really weren't too many touchstones, literary or otherwise. Except Beckett. We do owe a small debt to the Theatre of the Absurd." "Yes. He's a huge influence. But we're very different kinds of directors.
  4. ^ Stubbs, Phil (2005). "Vincenzo Natali on the making of Tideland". gilliamdreams.com. Dreams – The Terry Gilliam Fanzine. Retrieved 10 April 2011. Yes I have a new film called Nothing - which is a title that causes endless confusion. It was just released in Canada a few months ago. If there is a single film that I've done that owes a real debt to Terry, that's it actually.
  5. ^ Gates, Anita (September 11, 1998). "Cube (1997) FILM REVIEW; No Maps, Compasses Or Faith". The New York Times.
  6. ^ "Canadian small film a huge hit in France". The Leader-Post. 5 July 1999. p. 23. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Sundance '10: Vincenzo Natali Talks 'Splice' With BD". BloodyDisgusting. 25 January 2010.
  8. ^ "Vincenzo Natali on Potential 'Splice' Sequels". 19 January 2010.
  9. ^ "Vincenzo Natali Constructs Terror on 'High Rise'". 19 January 2010.
  10. ^ "Vincenzo Natali Talks Dark Desires to Bring 'Swamp Thing' Back to the Big Screen". 8 April 2010.
  11. ^ "'Splice' Director Wants To Adapt Alan Moore's Swamp Thing Stories". Archived from the original on 2010-04-10.
  12. ^ "Natali Confirmed for Neuromancer". October 2012.
  13. ^ "Vote for the 4th Annual Splatcademy Awards". 14 December 2010. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  14. ^ Bryan Fuller Gives the Scoop on Hannibal Season 3
  15. ^ "'Tremors' Reboot Pilot Starring Kevin Bacon Not Going Forward at SyFy". 28 April 2018.
  16. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (November 13, 2019), 'Westworld' Creators' Futuristic Drama 'The Peripheral' Gets Amazon Pickup, The Hollywood Reporter, retrieved November 15, 2019
  17. ^ Fingas, Jon (November 11, 2019), Amazon orders William Gibson series from the creators of 'Westworld', Engadget, retrieved November 15, 2019
  18. ^ Maas, Jennifer (November 13, 2019), Amazon Greenlights Sci-Fi Series 'The Peripheral' From 'Westworld' Creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, The Wrap, retrieved November 15, 2019
  19. ^ Foreman, Alison. "Fantasia Fest 2024 Announces Its Stellar Final Lineup with 'Ababouiné', 'In Our Blood', and More". Indiewire. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
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