Simon Kinberg
Simon David Kinberg[1] (born August 2, 1973)[2] is a British-born American filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the 20th Century Fox X-Men film franchise, and has also written such films as Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Sherlock Holmes. He has served as a producer on others including Cinderella and The Martian, the latter which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. His production company Genre Films had a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox. Kinberg made his directorial debut in the 2019 X-Men film Dark Phoenix from a script he also wrote.
Simon Kinberg | |
|---|---|
Kinberg in 2017 | |
| Born | Simon David Kinberg August 2, 1973 Hammersmith, London, England |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Brown University (BA) Columbia University (MFA) |
| Occupation(s) | Screenwriter, director, producer |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Spouse | Mali Heled (m. 2001; div. 2017) |
| Partner | Cleo Wade |
| Children | 4 |
Early life
Kinberg was born in Hammersmith, London, England to American parents Monica Menell-Kinberg and Jud Kinberg, a New York City-born writer and producer.[3] From age six, he was raised in Los Angeles, California.[4] He is Jewish.[5][6] Kinberg graduated from Brentwood High School,[2] and then from Brown University, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude; in 2003 received his MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts, where he won the Zaki Gordon Fellowship for Screenwriting.[7]
Film and television work
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 and Jerry Bruckheimer, among others. After finishing school, Kinberg moved to Hollywood, where his first screenwriting credit was a sequel to the hit action film XXX (2002), XXX: State of the Union (2005). His next screenwriting venture was the screenplay for Mr. & Mrs. Smith, directed by Doug Liman and starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The script began as Kinberg's thesis project for film school. Kinberg also wrote the pilot episode for a television adaptation of Mr. & Mrs. Smith for ABC TV. He also appears in the movie, in a scene with Brad Pitt.[citation needed]
Kinberg's next screenwriting job was the third movie in the 20th Century Fox X-Men film series: X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), which he co-wrote with Zak Penn. Comic-book writer Chris Claremont, who wrote the Dark Phoenix storyline that served as the primary source material for the film, also wrote the novelization of the film and made Kinberg a character in the book.[citation needed]
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 following year, Kinberg was writer of Sherlock Holmes, directed by Guy Ritchie, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law. In April 2010, his production company, Genre Films, signed a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox.[8]
Kinberg was the producer of X-Men: First Class (2011), and both writer and producer of This Means War (2012). He was also co-screenwriter and an executive producer of the film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in that same year. In 2013, Kinberg produced Elysium.
The following year, Kinberg was the writer and the producer of the film X-Men: Days of Future Past. That same year, he produced Let's Be Cops. In 2015, Kinberg produced the Neill Blomkamp film Chappie and the live-action version of Cinderella at Disney. He also worked on Fantastic Four as writer and producer. His final film of the year was The Martian, directed by Ridley Scott.
He wrote and produced X-Men: Apocalypse, the next film in the X-Men franchise following X-Men: Days of Future Past. Kinberg produced 2016's Deadpool, 2017's Logan, 2018's Deadpool 2, 2019's Dark Phoenix (the latter of which also served as his directorial debut) and The New Mutants, all of which are X-Men spin-off films. He also produced Murder on the Orient Express, an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name.
The Hollywood Reporter initially reported that Lawrence Kasdan, writer of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and Kinberg would write and produce Episodes VIII and IX of the new Star Wars films.[9] A week later the publication stated that Kasdan and Kinberg would be working on future Star Wars projects, but not necessarily on Episodes VIII and IX.[10]
In television, he is an executive producer on ABC network's Designated Survivor starring Kiefer Sutherland, Legion created by Noah Hawley for FX, and The Gifted on Fox. He executive produced the third revival of the science fiction anthology series, The Twilight Zone which premiered in 2019.
In July 2019, it was announced that Kinberg and his production company Genre Films is leaving Fox after 20 years.[11]
Personal life
Kinberg married Mali Heled in a Jewish ceremony on July 26, 2001.[1] They have two sons.[4] The couple separated in 2014 and were divorced in early 2017.[12] By November 4, 2019, Kinberg became engaged to writer Cleo Wade.[13] They have a daughter, born in 2020 and a second daughter in 2021.[14]
Filmography
Film
Executive producer
- Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)
- Death on the Nile (2022)
- A Haunting in Venice (2023)
Other credits
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Star Wars: The Force Awakens | Creative consultant 'Thanks' credit[15] |
| 2016 | Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | 'Thanks' credit |
Television
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive producer | Creator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–2018 | Star Wars Rebels | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2016–2019 | Designated Survivor | No | No | Yes | No | |
| 2017–2019 | The Gifted | No | No | Yes | No | Part of the X-Men film franchise |
| Legion | No | No | Yes | No | ||
| 2019–2020 | The Twilight Zone | Yes | Yes | Yes | Developer | Directed "Blurryman" and wrote "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet" |
| 2021 | Invasion | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Awards
This section includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (July 2020) |
He received a lifetime achievement award from the Saturn Awards in 2016.
He was named #61 on the list of 100 most powerful people in Hollywood by The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. The same year, The Hollywood Reporter named Kinberg as the highest-paid screenwriter in Hollywood with a record US$16 million for two X-Men scripts, and named him as one of the highest-paid producers in Hollywood with US$40 million for Deadpool in their annual Hollywood Salaries issue.
References
- ^ a b "Weddings; Mali Heled, Simon Kinberg". The New York Times. July 29, 2001. from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
- ^ a b Lovece, Frank (January 26, 2016). . Film Journal International. Archived from the original on January 28, 2016.
- ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
- ^ a b Siegel, Tatiana (October 8, 2015). "'Martian' Producer Simon Kinberg on 'Fantastic Four' Woes, Jennifer Lawrence's Uncertain 'X-Men' Future and 'Star Wars' Secrets". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
- ^ "IGN Interviews Simon Kinberg". IGN. September 30, 2005. from the original on October 5, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
- ^ Bloom, Nate (February 25, 2016). "The tribe at the Oscars, 2016". Jewish Standard. New Jersey. from the original on June 22, 2020.
- ^ . Columbia University School of the Arts: Film. Archived from the original on December 24, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
- ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (April 14, 2010). "Simon Kinberg Signs First Look Fox Deal". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
- ^ Kit, Borys (November 20, 2012). "Sources: Lawrence Kasdan, Simon Kinberg Lock Deals to Write and Produce 'Star Wars' Installments". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on January 3, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
- ^ Kit, Borys (November 28, 2012). "Star Wars: How Writers Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg Will Expand the Galaxy". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on January 5, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
- ^ "Underway On '355' At Uni With 'The War of the Worlds' Series For Apple, Simon Kinberg Ends Long Fox Run". Deadline Hollywood. July 9, 2019. from the original on December 1, 2019.
- ^ "Mali Heled Kinberg vs Simon David Kinberg". Unicourt. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
06/13/2014 Declaration - UCCJEA (- On Behalf of: Petitioner: Kinberg, Mali); Filed by Petitioner. ... 02/22/2017 Abstract - of Judgment (- Issued on 2017-03-09)
- ^ Wade, Cleo (November 4, 2019). "On tour a lot of you asked if Simon and I got engaged bc of the ring I was wearing. We did". Cleo Wade verified Instagram account. from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
- ^ Wade, Cleo (January 24, 2020). "On Monday, @simondavidkinberg and I welcomed our daughter, Memphis Love Kinberg into the world". Cleo Wade verified Instagram account. from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2020. Non-loginwalled link at bibliogram.pussthecat.org
- ^ . StarWars.com. January 25, 2013. Archived from the original on January 5, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
External links
- Simon Kinberg at IMDb