Allen and Albert Hughes | |
---|---|
Born | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | April 1, 1972
Other names | The Hughes brothers |
Occupation(s) | Film directors, producers, writers |
Years active | 1993–present |
Style | Action |
Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes (born April 1, 1972), known together professionally as the Hughes brothers, are American film directors and producers. The pair, who are twins, [1] are known for co-directing visceral, and often violent, movies, including 1993's Menace II Society , 1995's Dead Presidents , 2001's From Hell and 2010's The Book of Eli . The brothers did most of their collaboration between 1993 and 2001. Since 2004, when Albert moved to Prague, Czech Republic, he and Allen have only directed one film together, The Book of Eli in 2010. They have been involved in directing and producing film and television projects separately since 2005.
The Hughes brothers were born in Detroit, Michigan to an African American father, Albert Hughes, and an Armenian American mother, Aida, whose family were Iranian Armenians from Tehran. [2] Albert is the older of the twins by nine minutes; [3] although they originally believed themselves to be fraternal twins, they suspect they may be identical despite not having had a DNA test. [4] Their parents divorced when they were two years old. The twins moved with their mother to Claremont, California, east of Los Angeles, when they were nine. Their mother raised Albert and Allen alone while putting herself through school and starting her own business, a vocational center. [3] Supportive of her sons' ambitions as filmmakers, she gave them a video camera when they were 12. [5] The boys spent their free time making short films. When a teacher suggested that they make a "How To" film for an assignment, they complied with a short film, "How to Be a Burglar." [3]
After Allen had a son at the age of 18, the twins dropped out of high school and soon began working on music videos as teenagers, directing for artists like Tone Loc and Tupac Shakur. [6] Their first feature film, 1993's Menace II Society premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Centering on black, disenfranchised youth, it was made on a budget of $3.5 million when they were 20 years old. Tyger Williams wrote the screenplay, and shared story credit with the brothers. It became a critical as well as a box office success and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. Because of their previous experience in directing music videos, they became the first sibling duo since Jerry and David Zucker allowed a waiver by the Directors Guild of America to take co-credit as directors. [1]
Their second film was Dead Presidents in 1995. Dealing with the black underclass society like their feature film debut, and also starring Larenz Tate, the film centered on war veterans during the racially charged Vietnam War era. The film, which was released at the New York Critics Film Festival, failed to make as much of a profit as their first film. [3] They followed Dead Presidents with American Pimp , a feature-length documentary about the underground pimp culture and exploitation of women. It premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. They had originally set out to do an adaptation of Iceberg Slim's novel Pimp, but someone else acquired the rights. [7] The brothers have stated that the film's perspective was partially shaped by being raised by their mother, who is a feminist and a lesbian. [8] [9] In between projects, they filmed several anti-handgun public service announcements. [10]
In a departure from their previous material, the Hughes brothers co-directed From Hell , the 2001 film adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel of the same name about the Jack the Ripper murders in Victorian England, starring Johnny Depp and Heather Graham. Considered too violent and gory by some critics, the film had to be edited in order to avoid an NC-17 rating by the MPAA. [3] As described by the film's star, there were sometimes disagreements between the twins regarding the direction of the film. [10] For example, the amount of shown violence was a point of contention between the two; one brother thought the brutality should be shown, while the other believed implied violence would suffice. [11]
Their only film together since 2001's From Hell was the post-apocalyptic drama Book of Eli for Warner Bros., which was released in January 2010. [12]
In 2006, the brothers were announced as directing The Iceman , a film about serial killer Richard Kuklinski, but it was eventually directed by Ariel Vromen, and released in 2012. They were also slated to direct a film version of the classic TV series Kung Fu . [12] [13] It was announced in 2010 that the brothers were tapped to direct a live-action adaptation of the 1988 manga Akira , [14] but they left the project in 2011. [15]
As a team, Allen typically works with the actors while Albert handles the technical aspects of their films, stemming from Albert's experience of taking classes at Los Angeles City College's film school. [1]
Allen directed a few episodes of the American version of the TV series Touching Evil (for which his brother was an executive producer) as well as the 2005 television feature Knights of the South Bronx.
In 2009, Allen directed a segment of New York, I Love You , starring Drea De Matteo and Bradley Cooper. [16]
Allen Hughes directed the 2013 film Broken City , a crime thriller starring Mark Wahlberg [17] and Russell Crowe. [18] He directed the four-part 2017 HBO documentary miniseries The Defiant Ones , about music producers Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre.
In 2005, it was announced that Albert would direct a feature film called Art Con, although no further news was reported on its development. [5]
In December 2012, Albert Hughes announced that he would be producing an online video series using the Crysis 3 game engine called The 7 Wonders of Crysis 3. [19]
In 2018, Albert Hughes directed his first solo feature film, Alpha . The film was written by Daniele Sebastian Wiedenhaupt, based on a story written by Hughes, and holds an approval rating of 79% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.
Known as much for their frank manner as for their films, the Hughes Brothers have been known to get into altercations. They took the hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur to court in 1994, after he assaulted them during a music video shoot. [20] Shakur had originally been slated to star in Menace II Society, but was replaced after the incident that apparently stemmed from Shakur's disliking the role they had chosen for him. He was later sentenced to 15 days in jail for the assault as well as another incident that occurred a day before his sentencing. [21]
The brothers have also made no secret of their use of marijuana and have previously turned down an offer to do anti-marijuana commercials. [10]
Allen has a son with singer/songwriter Stephanie "Stevvi" Alexander, Eric Alexander-Hughes. Albert has a daughter, Adrienne Hughes, [22] and has been living in the Czech Republic since 2004.[ citation needed ]
In a 2013 interview, Albert stated that the brothers "love each other," but are also "kind of in a weird dance right now." [23]
Year | Title | Directors | Producers | Writers | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | Menace II Society | Yes | Yes | Story | |
1995 | Dead Presidents | Yes | Yes | Story | |
1999 | American Pimp | Yes | Yes | No | Documentary |
2001 | From Hell | Yes | Executives | No | |
2010 | The Book of Eli | Yes | No | No | |
Allen Hughes
Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | Knights of the South Bronx | Yes | No | No | TV movie |
2008 | New York, I Love You | Yes | No | No | 1 segment |
2013 | Broken City | Yes | Yes | No | |
2017 | The Defiant Ones | Yes | Executive | Yes | Documentary mini-series |
2022 | Dear Mama | Yes | Executive | Yes | Documentary mini-series [24] |
TBA | Untitled Snoop Dogg biopic film | Yes | Yes | No | [25] |
Albert Hughes
Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Alpha | Yes | Yes | Story | |
2020 | The Good Lord Bird | Yes | Executive | No | Episode "Meet the Lord" |
2023 | The Continental: From the World of John Wick | Yes | Executive | No | 2 episodes |
Tupac Amaru Shakur, also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Considered to be one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, academics regard him as one of the most influential music artists of the 20th century and a prominent political activist for Black America. In addition to his music career, Shakur also has tons of starring roles in movies and wrote numerous poems. Shakur is among the best-selling music artists, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide. His lyrical content has been noted for addressing social injustice, political issues, and the marginalization of other African-Americans, but he was also synonymous with gangsta rap and violent lyrics.
John Daniel Singleton was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing Boyz n the Hood (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, becoming, at age 24, the first African American and youngest person to have ever been nominated for that award.
Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight Jr. is an American record executive and convicted felon who is the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Knight was a central figure in gangsta rap's commercial success in the 1990s. This feat is attributed to the record label's first two album releases: Dr. Dre's The Chronic in 1992 and Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle in 1993. Knight is currently serving a 28-year sentence in prison for a fatal hit-and-run in 2015.
Donald Edmond "Donnie" Wahlberg Jr. is an American singer-songwriter, actor and producer. He is a founding member of the boy band New Kids on the Block. Outside music, he has had roles in the Saw films, Zookeeper (2011), Dreamcatcher (2003), The Sixth Sense (1999), Righteous Kill (2008), and Ransom (1996), as well as the role of Carwood Lipton in the World War II miniseries Band of Brothers.
Menace II Society is a 1993 American teen crime drama film directed by the Hughes Brothers in their directorial debut. Set in the Watts and Crenshaw neighborhoods of Los Angeles, the film follows the life of Caine Lawson and his close friends. It gained notoriety for its scenes of violence, profanity, and drug-related content, and also received critical acclaim for the performances of Turner, Jada Pinkett, and Larenz Tate, the direction, and its realistic portrayal of urban violence and powerful underlying messages.
Antoine Fuqua is an American film director known for his work in the action and thriller genres. He was originally known as a director of music videos, and made his film debut in 1998 with The Replacement Killers. His critical breakthrough was the 2001 crime thriller Training Day, winning the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Director.
"Brenda's Got a Baby" is a song by American rapper 2Pac from his debut album, 2Pacalypse Now (1991). The song was first released as a promotional CD single a month prior to album's release and then, in February 1992, it was re-released as a double A-side single with the song "If My Homie Calls". The song, which features R&B singer Dave Hollister singing background vocals with Roniece Levias, is about a 12-year-old girl named Brenda who lives in a ghetto and has a baby she can't support. The song explores the issue of teen pregnancy and its effect on young mothers and their families. Like many of Shakur's songs, "Brenda's Got a Baby" draws from the plight of the impoverished. Using Brenda to represent young mothers in general, Shakur criticises the low level of support from the baby's father, the government, and society in general. Shakur wrote the song while filming the feature film Juice, after reading a newspaper article about a 12-year-old girl who became pregnant by her cousin and threw the baby into a trash heap.
American Pimp is a 1999 documentary that examines the pimp subculture in the United States. It was directed by the Hughes Brothers, the filmmakers behind Menace II Society and Dead Presidents.
Quincy Delight Jones III, better known as QDIII, QD3 and Snoopy, is a Swedish-American music producer and documentary film producer.
Bokeem Woodbine is an American actor. In 1994, he portrayed Joshua, the main character's troubled brother, in Jason's Lyric. He won a Black Reel Award and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Critics' Choice Television Award for his role as Kansas City mob enforcer Mike Milligan in the second season of Fargo. Woodbine also portrayed Daniel in season 2 of the WGN series Underground, Herman Schultz/Shocker in the film Spider-Man: Homecoming, and saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman in the Oscar-winning Ray Charles biopic Ray.
"Temptations" is a song by American rapper Tupac Shakur (2Pac) from his third studio album, Me Against the World (1995). It was released as a single in the US on August 29, 1995, and was released as a CD, cassette, and 12" promo. While rapping is solely performed by Shakur, Erick Sermon and producer Easy Mo Bee are also featured in the song primarily as background vocalists. The song uses the bassline from "Computer Love" by Zapp, and the theme focuses on relationship and infidelity issues. Debuting at number sixty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100, the song did fairly well in the United States. It was also well received by critics, with many writers commenting on its romantic tone.
DJ Fuze, is an American Hip-Hop DJ and record producer, who is most known for his work in the 1990s with the multi-platinum, P-Funk-inspired rap group Digital Underground.
The Book of Eli is a 2010 American post-apocalyptic neo-Western action film directed by the Hughes Brothers, written by Gary Whitta, and starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, and Jennifer Beals. The story revolves around Eli, a nomad in a post-apocalyptic world who seeks to deliver his copy of a mysterious book to a safe location on the West Coast of the United States. Filming began in February 2009 and took place in New Mexico.
Broken City is a 2013 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Allen Hughes and written by Brian Tucker. Mark Wahlberg stars as a police officer turned private investigator and Russell Crowe as the mayor of New York City who hires the private detective to investigate his wife. The film also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Barry Pepper, Kyle Chandler, Natalie Martinez, and Jeffrey Wright
Katari Terrance Cox better known by his stage name Kastro, is an American rapper. A cousin of Tupac Shakur, Kastro would perform alongside him in the former's rap group, the Outlawz, and is featured on many of the late rapper's songs such as "Made Niggaz", and "Hail Mary". When he was in elementary school, he introduced his friend, and future Outlawz rapper, Malcolm Greenridge, later named E.D.I. Mean, to Tupac.
The following is the complete filmography of American actor and producer Mark Wahlberg.
Karolyn Ali was an American film and music video producer, best known for her documentary Tupac: Resurrection. She started her career in the music industry, producing music and commercials. Ali worked for over 30 years on films, documentaries, music videos and commercials.
The Black Reel Award for Outstanding Director is an award presented annually by the Black Reel Awards (BRA). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in the film industry.
Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni and Tupac Shakur is an American television documentary miniseries directed by Allen Hughes, about Tupac Shakur and his mother Afeni Shakur. It premiered on FX on April 21, 2023. It received critical acclaim.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help)