David Gordon Green

Last updated

David Gordon Green
David Gordon Green by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Green at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con
Born (1975-04-09) April 9, 1975 (age 49)
Alma mater University of North Carolina School of the Arts
Occupations
  • Film director
  • film producer
  • television producer
  • screenwriter
Years active1997–present

David Gordon Green (born April 9, 1975) is an American filmmaker.

Contents

Green began his career in 1997 and gained fame with the independent film George Washington (2000). He directed two additional independent dramas, All the Real Girls (2003) and Snow Angels (2007), as well as the thriller Undertow (2004), all of which he wrote or co-wrote.

In 2008, Green transitioned into Hollywood studio comedies, directing the films Pineapple Express (2008), Your Highness and The Sitter (both 2011).

He briefly returned to his dramatic roots with the independent films Prince Avalanche (2013), Joe (2013), and Manglehorn (2014). Following this departure, he returned to studio films with Our Brand Is Crisis (2015) and Stronger (2017). Beginning in 2018, Green directed a trilogy of slasher films in the Halloween franchise: Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween Ends (2022), which he co-wrote with frequent collaborator Danny McBride. Most recently, Green directed The Exorcist: Believer (2023), with two additional sequels planned.

Green has also directed episodes of the comedy series Eastbound & Down (2009–2013), Red Oaks (2014–17), Vice Principals (2016–17), and The Righteous Gemstones (2019–present), on all of which he additionally served as executive producer.

Early life

Green, one of four children, was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and grew up in Richardson, Texas. His mother, Jean Ann (née Hunter), was a Lamaze instructor, and his father, Hubert Gordon Green, Jr., was a medical school dean. [1] [2] Green attended Richardson High School, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studied film directing. [3] He currently lives in Charleston, South Carolina. [4]

Career

As a college student, Green made the two short films, Pleasant Grove and Physical Pinball, at the North Carolina School of the Arts prior to his feature film debut in 2000, the critically acclaimed George Washington , which he both wrote and directed. He followed that with All the Real Girls in 2003 and Undertow in 2004. In 2007, he directed Snow Angels , his first adaptation, based on the Stewart O'Nan novel. The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival [5] and stars Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale. It was released by Warner Independent Pictures. [6]

In 2008, Green’s career transitioned when he directed the Seth Rogen buddy comedy Pineapple Express , and the HBO series Eastbound & Down , for which he directed twelve episodes and served as a consulting producer. In 2011, he co-created the animated series Good Vibes and directed the comedies Your Highness and The Sitter , both of which received negative reviews.

In 2013, Green briefly returned to independent film when he directed and co-wrote Prince Avalanche and Joe . He followed these films with Manglehorn (2014), Our Brand Is Crisis (2015), and Stronger (2017).

In 2018, Green directed the horror sequel Halloween , produced by Jason Blum, executive produced by John Carpenter, and co-written by Green and Danny McBride. [7] [8] He also directed its sequels Halloween Kills , released in October 2021, and Halloween Ends , released in October 2022.

In April 2020, HBO was announced to be developing a Hellraiser television series that would serve as "an elevated continuation and expansion" of its mythology with Mark Verheiden and Michael Dougherty writing the series and Green directing several episodes; the three will also be executive producing the series with Danny McBride, Jody Hill, Brandon James and Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment. [9] In December 2020, it was announced Green will direct a new installment of The Exorcist franchise which will be a direct sequel to William Friedkin's 1973 film adaptation of the 1971 novel. [10] [11] [12]

Influences

Green's favorite films are, in order, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot , 2001: A Space Odyssey , The Gravy Train , The Bad News Bears , Deliverance , Nashville and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest . [13]

It has been suggested, even by the director himself, that Green's early films (most notably George Washington ) take influence from the works of Terrence Malick. [14] Malick himself served as an executive producer of Green's 2004 film Undertow .

Filmography

Film

YearTitle Director Writer Producer
2000 George Washington YesYesYes
2003 All the Real Girls YesYesNo
2004 Undertow YesYesNo
2007 Snow Angels YesYesNo
2008 Pineapple Express YesNoNo
2011 Your Highness YesNoNo
The Sitter YesNoNo
2013 Prince Avalanche YesYesYes
Joe YesNoYes
2014 Manglehorn YesNoYes
2015 Our Brand Is Crisis YesNoNo
2016 Goat NoYesNo
2017 Stronger YesNoNo
2018 Halloween YesYesExecutive
2021 Halloween Kills YesYesExecutive
2022 Halloween Ends YesYesExecutive
2023 The Exorcist: Believer YesYesExecutive
TBA Nutcrackers YesNoNo

Executive producer

Producer

Actor

YearTitleRole
2022 The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent Himself
Bones and All Brad
2023 I'm a Virgo Bartender

Television

Year(s)TitleDirectorExecutive
Producer
Notes
2009-2013 Eastbound & Down YesYes12 episodes
2011 Good Vibes NoYesAlso writer and co-creator
2014 Chozen NoYes
2014-2017 Red Oaks YesYes6 episodes
2016-2017 Vice Principals YesYes8 episodes
2017 There's... Johnny! YesYesEpisodes "Andy Goes to Hollywood" and "Dog Day Afternoon"
Tarantula NoYes
2019-present The Righteous Gemstones YesYes9 episodes
2019 Dickinson YesYesEpisodes "Because I could not stop" and "I have never seen 'Volcanoes'"
2020 Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet YesYesEpisodes "Pilot", "The Casino" and "The Convention"
2021 The Sex Lives of College Girls YesYesEpisode: "Welcome to Essex"
2023 Telemarketers NoYes

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clive Barker</span> English author, film director and visual artist

Clive Barker is an English novelist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the Books of Blood, which established him as a leading horror writer. He has since written many novels and other works. His fiction has been adapted into films, notably the Hellraiser series, the first installment of which he also wrote and directed, and the Candyman series. He was also an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

<i>Hellraiser</i> 1987 film by Clive Barker

Hellraiser is a 1987 British supernatural horror film written and directed by Clive Barker, and produced by Christopher Figg, based on Barker's 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart. The film marked Barker's directorial debut. Its plot involves a mystical puzzle box that summons the Cenobites, a group of extra-dimensional, sadomasochistic beings who cannot differentiate between pain and pleasure. The leader of the Cenobites is portrayed by Doug Bradley, and identified in the sequels as "Pinhead".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morgan Creek Entertainment</span> American film studio

Morgan Creek Entertainment is an American film production company, former sales agent and investor, that has released box-office hits including Young Guns, Dead Ringers, Major League, True Romance, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Crush, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Last of the Mohicans. The studio was co-founded in 1987 by James G. Robinson and Joe Roth. Robinson leads the company as chairman and CEO. His two sons, Brian Robinson and David C. Robinson, run the day-to-day operations. The company name comes from Roth's favorite film, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. Their most recent film is The Exorcist: Believer, which was released on October 6, 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Dougherty</span> American director, screenwriter, and producer

Michael Patrick Dougherty is an American writer, director, animator, and producer known for his work in a variety of genre films, both big and small.

Halloween is an American slasher media franchise that consists of thirteen films, as well as novels, comic books, a video game and other merchandise. The films primarily focus on Michael Myers, who was committed to a sanitarium as a child for the murder of his sister, Judith Myers. Fifteen years later, he escapes to stalk and kill the people of the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois. Michael's killings occur on the holiday of Halloween, on which all of the films primarily take place. Throughout the series various protagonists try to stop Myers including, most notably, babysitter Laurie Strode and psychiatrist Dr. Samuel Loomis. The original Halloween, released in 1978, was written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill—the film's director and producer respectively. The film, itself inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and Bob Clark's Black Christmas, is known to have inspired a long line of slasher films.

<i>Hellraiser</i> (franchise) Horror franchise

Hellraiser is a British-American horror media franchise that consists of eleven films, as well as various comic books, and additional merchandise and media. Based on the novella The Hellbound Heart by English author Clive Barker, the franchise centers around the Cenobites which includes the primary antagonist named Pinhead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny McBride</span> American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter

Daniel Richard McBride is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. He starred in the HBO television series Eastbound & Down and Vice Principals, which he co-created with frequent collaborator Jody Hill, and The Righteous Gemstones, which he created himself. He has appeared in films such as The Foot Fist Way (2006), Hot Rod (2007), Pineapple Express (2008), Tropic Thunder (2008), Up in the Air (2009), Land of the Lost (2009), Your Highness (2011), This Is the End (2013), and Alien: Covenant (2017). He has done voice acting for Despicable Me (2010), Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), Hell and Back (2015), The Angry Birds Movie (2016), Sausage Party (2016), The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019), and The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021).

Joseph Stephens is an American multi-instrumentalist, film score composer, and songwriter. He composed music for the television show The Righteous Gemstones, the film Observe and Report, directed by Jody Hill as well as the HBO series Eastbound & Down, produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s Gary Sanchez Productions.

<i>The Exorcist</i> (franchise) American horror media franchise

The Exorcist is an American horror media franchise that originated with William Peter Blatty's 1971 horror novel of the same name and most prominently featured in a 1973 film adaptation of the novel, and many subsequent prequels and sequels. All of these installments focus on fictional accounts of people possessed by Pazuzu, the main antagonist of the series, and the efforts of religious authorities to counter this possession.

Eddie Rouse was an American character actor whose feature film credits included American Gangster, The Number 23, and Pineapple Express. Rouse starred in the 2014 dramatic short film Rat Pack Rat as a Sammy Davis impersonator hired to perform at a birthday party. He was filming the HBO television series Westworld at the time of his death in 2014.

<i>Hellraiser: Judgment</i> 2018 horror film

Hellraiser: Judgment is a 2018 American horror film written and directed by Gary J. Tunnicliffe, based on the characters created by Clive Barker. The tenth installment in the Hellraiser film series, the film stars Damon Carney, Randy Wayne, Alexandra Harris, Heather Langenkamp, and Paul T. Taylor, and centers on three police detectives who, investigating a series of murders, are confronted by the denizens of hell. The film expands the fictional universe by introducing a new faction of hell: the Stygian Inquisition. While the Cenobites offer sadomasochistic pleasures to humans that enter their dominion, the Inquisition processes the souls of sinners. Tunnicliffe plays the Inquisition's auditor, a prominent role in the film.

<i>Halloween</i> (2018 film) American slasher film

Halloween is a 2018 American slasher film directed by David Gordon Green and co-written by Green, Jeff Fradley and Danny McBride. It is the eleventh installment in the Halloween film series and a sequel to the 1978 film of the same name, while disregarding all previous sequels. The film stars Jamie Lee Curtis who reprises her role as Laurie Strode. James Jude Courtney portrays Michael Myers, with Nick Castle returning to the role for a cameo. Halloween also stars Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Haluk Bilginer, and Virginia Gardner. Its plot follows a post-traumatic Laurie Strode who prepares to face Michael Myers in a final showdown on Halloween night, forty years after she survived his killing spree.

<i>Halloween Kills</i> 2021 American slasher film

Halloween Kills is a 2021 American slasher film directed by David Gordon Green and co-written by Green, Danny McBride and Scott Teems. It is the sequel to 2018's Halloween and the twelfth installment in the Halloween franchise. The film stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, and Will Patton. The film begins on the same night where the previous film ended with James Jude Courtney reprising his role as Michael Myers whose presence has become apparent to the residents of Haddonfield.

The following is a list of unproduced David Gordon Green projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director David Gordon Green has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these productions fell in development hell or were cancelled.

<i>Halloween Ends</i> 2022 American slasher film

Halloween Ends is a 2022 American slasher film directed by David Gordon Green and co-written by Green, Danny McBride, Paul Brad Logan and Chris Bernier. It is the sequel to Halloween Kills (2021), the thirteenth installment in the Halloween franchise, and the final film in the trilogy of sequels that started with the 2018 film, which directly follows the 1978 film. The film stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak, Rohan Campbell, Will Patton, Kyle Richards, and James Jude Courtney. The plot follows the outcast Corey Cunningham who falls in love with Laurie Strode's granddaughter while a series of events, including crossing paths with Michael Myers, drives him to become a serial killer.

<i>The Exorcist: Believer</i> 2023 film by David Gordon Green

The Exorcist: Believer is a 2023 American supernatural horror film directed by David Gordon Green, who co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Sattler from a story by Scott Teems, Danny McBride, and Green. The sixth installment in The Exorcist franchise, it serves as a direct sequel to The Exorcist (1973). The film stars Leslie Odom Jr., Lidya Jewett, Olivia O‘Neill in her film debut, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, and Ann Dowd. Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair reprise their roles from the original film. Its plot follows a photographer who must confront the nadir of evil when his daughter and her best friend are possessed.

<i>Hellraiser</i> (2022 film) Film directed by David Bruckner

Hellraiser is a 2022 supernatural horror film directed by David Bruckner, with a screenplay by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, from a screen story they co-wrote with David S. Goyer. It is a reboot of the Hellraiser franchise, the eleventh installment overall, and a second adaptation of the 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, which was adapted into the 1987 film Hellraiser. The film stars Odessa A'zion, Jamie Clayton, Adam Faison, Drew Starkey, Brandon Flynn, Aoife Hinds, Jason Liles, Yinka Olorunnife, Selina Lo, Zachary Hing, Kit Clarke, Goran Višnjić, and Hiam Abbass. It follows a young woman recovering from addiction who ends up with a mechanical puzzle box that can summon the Cenobites, humanoid beings who thrive on pain being pleasure.

Scott Teems is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work on That Evening Sun (2009), The Quarry (2020), Halloween Kills (2021), Firestarter (2022) and Insidious: The Red Door (2023).

<i>Halloween</i> (2018 soundtrack) 2018 film score by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies

Halloween is the soundtrack album to the 2018 film Halloween, which is the eleventh installment in the Halloween franchise and a sequel to the 1978 film of the same name. The film was directed by David Gordon Green and written by Green, Jeff Fradley, and Danny McBride. It stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle who reprise their roles as Laurie Strode and Michael Myers, with stuntman James Jude Courtney, who also portrays Myers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rough House Pictures</span>

Rough House Pictures is an American television and film production company founded by Danny McBride, David Gordon Green, and Jody Hill in 2009.

References

  1. "Green, David Gordon". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Archived from the original on July 31, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  2. "Pierces.org". Pierces.org. January 24, 2013. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  3. Fuchs, Cynthia. "Interview with David Gordon Green and Paul Schneider: All the Real Girls". PopMatters . Archived from the original on August 14, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  4. "Halloween director David Gordon Green talks anxiety, Charleston, and John Carpenter". Charleston City Paper. October 24, 2018. Archived from the original on August 22, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  5. Ramos, Steve (March 7, 2008). "REVIEW | Quiet Anger: David Gordon Green's "Snow Angels"". IndieWire. Archived from the original on February 9, 2007. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  6. "WIP turns Green with 2 projects". The Hollywood Reporter. March 20, 2007. Archived from the original on August 22, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  7. "David Gordon Green and Danny McBride Rebooting 'Halloween' for October 2018 - Bloody Disgusting". bloody-disgusting.com. February 9, 2017. Archived from the original on February 10, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  8. Galluzzo, Rob. "David Gordon Green, Danny McBride Will Direct/Write The New HALLOWEEN Movie For Blumhouse!". Blumhouse . Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  9. Throne, Will (April 27, 2020). "'Hellraiser' Series in Development at HBO". Variety. Archived from the original on April 28, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  10. Couch, Aaron (December 20, 2020). "'Exorcist' Sequel in the Works with 'Halloween' Director David Gordon Green". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  11. Katz, Brandon (December 20, 2020). "Exclusive: David Gordon Green in Talks to Direct 'Exorcist' Sequel for Blumhouse". observer.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  12. Pulliam-Moore, Charles (December 24, 2020). "Blumhouse Is Summoning Another Exorcist Movie to the Mortal Plane". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on August 22, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  13. "Interview: Pineapple Express Director David Gordon Green". Firstshowing.net. August 3, 2008. Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  14. The Charlie Rose Show, PBS, episode aired 2000. Available on George Washington DVD. New York: The Criterion Collection, 2001.