Jerry Bruckheimer | |
---|---|
Born | Jerome Leon Bruckheimer September 21, 1943 |
Alma mater | University of Arizona (BA) |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1972–present |
Organization | Jerry Bruckheimer Films |
Notable work | |
Political party | Republican [1] |
Spouses |
Jerome Leon Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television producer. He has been active in the genres of action, drama, comedy, fantasy, horror and science fiction. After working in advertising out of college, Bruckheimer moved into film production in the 1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, he partnered with fellow producer Don Simpson. Bruckheimer and Simpson's partnership continued until Simpson's death in 1996. Bruckheimer has produced films including Flashdance , The Rock , Crimson Tide , Dangerous Minds , Con Air , Armageddon , Enemy of the State , Pearl Harbor , Black Hawk Down , as well as the Beverly Hills Cop , Top Gun , Bad Boys , Pirates of the Caribbean and National Treasure franchises.
At the helm of his self-titled production company, he has produced films that have been distributed by numerous film studios such as Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures and Disney, while his television works have been co-produced by Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios. In July 2003, Bruckheimer was honored by Variety as the first in Hollywood history to produce the first and second highest-grossing films of a single weekend: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Bad Boys II . [2] In 2023, Top Gun: Maverick earned him a nomination for Best Picture at the 95th Academy Awards.
His best known television series are television dramas CSI: Crime Scene Investigation , CSI: Miami , CSI: NY , CSI: Cyber , Without a Trace , Cold Case , Lucifer and reality competition series The Amazing Race , which would spawn a franchise with international versions. For the latter, he won ten Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2003, three of his television productions—CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Without a Trace and CSI: Miami—ranked among the top ten in the US ratings, making him the first producer to achieve this. [3] [4]
Bruckheimer is also the co-founder (with the late David Bonderman) and majority owner of the Seattle Kraken, the 2021 expansion team of the National Hockey League.
Bruckheimer was born on September 21, 1943, [5] [6] in Detroit, Michigan, the son of German Jewish immigrants. [7] He graduated from Mumford High School in 1961 [8] in Detroit, at age 17, before moving to Arizona for college. Bruckheimer was also an active member of the Stamp Collecting Club. [9] He graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of Arizona. He was a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. A film buff at an early age with an interest in photography, Bruckheimer would take snapshots when he had the opportunity. After college, Bruckheimer worked in advertising in Detroit (creative producer) and New York City. At the Detroit agency he worked on a one minute ad spot for the new Pontiac GTO. [10] Early in his career, Bruckheimer produced television commercials, including one for Pepsi.
Bruckheimer started producing films in the 1970s after leaving his job in advertising, with director Dick Richards. They worked together on the films The Culpepper Cattle Company , Farewell, My Lovely and March or Die . Bruckheimer then worked with Paul Schrader on two films, American Gigolo and Cat People , which began to attract notice for him in Hollywood.
During the 1980s and 1990s, he was a co-producer with Don Simpson of a string of highly successful films for Paramount Pictures. He first met Simpson at a screening of 1973's The Harder They Come at Warner Brothers. The two worked together and created Bruckheimer's first big hit, 1983's Flashdance , which brought in $95 million. [11] He had a number of other hits during that time period, including the Beverly Hills Cop films, Top Gun and Days of Thunder . Top Gun marked his first collaboration with English director Tony Scott, who directed six films for Bruckheimer. [12] The first Beverly Hills Cop movie, which was supposed to star Sylvester Stallone, launched Eddie Murphy's career and in just five days, became the highest grossing winter release in Paramount's history. [13] On August 9, 1983, Bruckheimer and Simpson struck a three-year agreement with Paramount to produce theatrical and television projects through his new Simpson/Bruckheimer Productions company. [14]
While working with Simpson, Bruckheimer became known as "Mr. Outside" because of his experience with filmmaking, while Simpson became known as "Mr. Inside" because of his film industry contacts. The Rock was the last film in which Bruckheimer collaborated with Simpson. After Simpson's death in 1996, Bruckheimer stipulated that The Rock be dedicated to the memory of Simpson.
In 1990, Bruckheimer and Simpson struck a $500 million deal with Paramount to produce five movies, entirely of their choice. [15] However, his 1990 production of the film Days of Thunder, which starred Tom Cruise, did not perform as well as expected, which was a step backwards in the Bruckheimer-Simpson success story. The duo made a come-back in 1994, however, with the low-budget film ($12 million) The Ref . [16]
Despite Simpson's untimely death, Bruckheimer continued to produce a large number of action films, often working with director Michael Bay on several box office hits, including Armageddon . Other popular films he produced include Remember the Titans , Black Hawk Down and the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Bruckheimer has also acquired the rights to produce a film based on the popular role playing game by Palladium Books, Rifts . In the late 1990s, he started Technical Black Films to produce non-action films, with Remember the Titans being the only film produced. [17]
Since 1996, Bruckheimer has branched out into television, creating a number of police dramas of which CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has been the most notable on daytime television. He also produced the reality game show The Amazing Race . In May 2008, CBS announced it had picked up Bruckheimer's newest series, Eleventh Hour , for the 2008–2009 broadcast television season. The science fiction drama follows a government agent and a professor as they investigate strange scientific and medical activity. [18]
From 2004 (beginning of CSI: NY ) to 2009 (end of Without a Trace ), Bruckheimer had six hit television shows on the air: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation , CSI: Miami , CSI: NY, Cold Case , Without a Trace and The Amazing Race . At one point, three of his TV series ranked among the top 10 in the ratings. [3]
In December 2007, Bruckheimer announced plans to partner with MTV to create a new game studio. [19] The same year, [20] Bruckheimer joined the ZeniMax Media board of directors and has since showed up at several launch parties for Bethesda Softworks titles, including Fallout 3 , Fallout: New Vegas and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim . [21] In 2009, Bruckheimer unveiled Jerry Bruckheimer Games, headed by former Microsoft Studios Publishing Executive Producer Jim Veevaert, as President of Production, and Jay Cohen, previously Ubisoft's Vice President of US Publishing, as President of Development. [22]
It was announced on September 10, 2009, that NBC had picked up an action procedural from Bruckheimer. The show, titled Chase , [23] "tells the stories of a team charged with making sure fugitive criminals don't evade justice," reports The Hollywood Reporter. [24] It was canceled in May 2011, however. Skin , which was another Bruckheiner production, was cancelled in 2003, after only three episodes.
In 2011, it was rumored that Jerry Bruckheimer Games was working on three titles, but nothing came to fruition. [25] In March 2013, Jerry Bruckheimer Games was closed. [26] Although Jerry Bruckheimer Games is closed, Bruckheimer still remained a ZeniMax Board Member, mostly due to being a close associate of former ZeniMax President Ernest Del, until ZeniMax was purchased by Microsoft in 2021. [27] [28]
In 2014, after the disappointment of The Sorcerer's Apprentice [29] and The Lone Ranger , [30] Bruckheimer and the Disney Studios chose to part ways by not renewing their first-look deal that expired that year. [31] He signed a new first-look deal with Paramount that same year and mentioned a new Beverly Hills Cop and a Top Gun 2 as potential production ventures with his new partner. [32]
In June 2016, Jerry Bruckheimer Television became an independent outfit, ending a 15-year run exclusive pact with Warner Bros Television. [33] The next year, the production company signed a deal with CBS Television Studios. [34]
Bruckheimer was named as one of the investors of a proposed sports arena in Las Vegas, [35] and he had been rumored to be the leading choice by the National Hockey League (NHL) to own an expansion hockey team that would play in the arena. Bruckheimer was also named as one of the investors of a proposed Seattle-based NHL expansion team, whose application was submitted in early 2018. [36] The NHL Board of Governors voted to approve the team, named the Seattle Kraken, on December 4, 2018, which started to play in the 2021–22 season. [37] Bruckheimer was part of an investment group that also included Tim Leiweke (Oak View Group) and David Bonderman (minority owner NBA's Boston Celtics). [38] In 2020, it was reported that his first look deal with Paramount was not renewed. [39]
The movie Top Gun was produced in collaboration with the Pentagon to rebrand the US Navy's image after the Vietnam War and attract new Navy recruits. Top Gun was the first full-blown collaboration between Hollywood and the Navy. [40] [41] The model, which was developed by Bruckheimer, launched a new trend of military movies in the 1990s and onward. [41]
In July 2003, Bruckheimer was honored by Variety as the first producer in Hollywood history to produce the top two highest-grossing films of a single weekend, the buddy-cop Bad Boys II and the Disney theme-park spin-off, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl . [2] According to Variety, the "Bruckheimer touch" is characterized by a "consistently edgy, high-octane visual dynamic and equally distinctive storytelling driven by the triumphalism so popular with Madison Avenue". [10]
The Pirates of the Caribbean film series, produced through Walt Disney Pictures, was enormously profitable and demonstrated Bruckheimer's ability to create lucrative projects. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl , which was the first film in the franchise, was released on July 9, 2003. A box office hit, the film was well received by both critics and filmgoers. After the unexpected success of the first film, Disney revealed that a trilogy was in the works. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was released on July 7, 2006. The sequel proved to be very successful, breaking records worldwide on the day of its premiere. In the end, the film acquired a total of $1,066,179,725 at the worldwide box office, becoming the third and fastest film to reach this amount. The third film in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End , was released worldwide on May 25, 2007. Two more films, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales , were released, in 2011 and 2017, respectively. Altogether, the film franchise has grossed over $4.5 billion worldwide.
When asked on what the film industry's obligation to an audience was, he responded, "We are in the transportation business. We transport audiences from one place to another." [42] When asked why he makes films, he stated, "If I made films for the critics, or for someone else, I'd probably be living in some small Hollywood studio apartment." [43]
In a 1984 interview with the Los Angeles Times , Bruckheimer said, "We [he and Don Simpson] put together all the elements. We decide what aesthetic is right for a picture. We are as much a part of the process as the director." [10]
Bruckheimer has been married twice. His first wife was Bonnie Fishman Bruckheimer. As of 2006, he resides in Los Angeles with his second wife, novelist Linda Cobb Bruckheimer. [44] He has one stepdaughter, Alexandra. The couple own a farm in Bloomfield, Kentucky, about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Louisville, as well as another in Ojai, east of Santa Barbara. [45]
When asked about his favorite films, Bruckheimer named The Godfather (1972), The French Connection (1971), Good Will Hunting (1997) and The 400 Blows (1959). [3]
In May 2006, he was honored with a Doctorate of Fine Arts degree (DFA) from the University of Arizona's College of Fine Arts.
Bruckheimer's philanthropic activities have included publicly supporting the fight against multiple sclerosis via his work with The Nancy Davis Foundation for MS. Additionally, throughout his career, he has pledged to help various causes by establishing the Jerry Bruckheimer Foundation. [46] According to The Smoking Gun, however, the last time the Jerry Bruckheimer Foundation made a contribution was in 1995, when it gave $9,350 to Van Nuys Prep School. [47]
Bruckheimer has aided in the repair and restoration of the historic clipper ship, Cutty Sark . A collection of photos taken by Bruckheimer went on display in London in November 2007 to help raise money for the Cutty Sark Conservation Project. The exhibition featured more than thirty pictures taken on set during the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End . [48]
Bruckheimer has donated more than $50,000 to Republican campaigns and committees. [49] He donated funds to John McCain's 2008 presidential election campaign. He gave $5,000 to a joint fundraising committee on John McCain's behalf. [50] He donated $25,000 to the 2012 Mitt Romney Victory Fund. [51]
All films were produced by him, unless otherwise noted.
As producer, except where noted:
Year | Title | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1980 | American Gigolo | Paul Schrader | |
1983 | Flashdance | Adrian Lyne | |
1984 | Beverly Hills Cop | Martin Brest | |
Thief of Hearts | Douglas Day Stewart | ||
1986 | Top Gun | Tony Scott | |
1987 | Beverly Hills Cop II | ||
1990 | Days of Thunder | ||
2019 | Gemini Man | Ang Lee | |
2022 | Top Gun: Maverick | Joseph Kosinski | |
Secret Headquarters | Henry Joost Ariel Schulman | Via Paramount+ | |
Year | Title | Director |
---|---|---|
1995 | Bad Boys | Michael Bay |
2001 | Black Hawk Down | Ridley Scott |
2003 | Bad Boys II | Michael Bay |
2014 | Deliver Us from Evil | Scott Derrickson |
2020 | Bad Boys for Life | Adil El Arbi Bilall Fallah |
2024 | Bad Boys: Ride or Die |
Year | Title | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1975 | Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins | Dick Richards | Associate producer |
2003 | Kangaroo Jack | David McNally | |
2018 | 12 Strong | Nicolai Fuglsig | With Lionsgate Films |
2025 | F1 | Joseph Kosinski | With Apple Original Films |
Year | Title | Director | Distribution | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1972 | The Culpepper Cattle Co. | Dick Richards | 20th Century Fox | Associate producer |
1975 | Farewell, My Lovely | Avco Embassy Pictures | ||
1977 | March or Die [52] | Columbia Pictures | ||
1980 | Defiance | John Flynn | American International Pictures | |
1981 | Thief | Michael Mann | United Artists | |
1982 | Cat People | Paul Schrader | Universal Pictures | Executive producer |
Young Doctors in Love | Garry Marshall | 20th Century Fox | ||
2024 | The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare | Guy Ritchie | Lionsgate | |
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F | Mark Molloy | Netflix [53] | ||
Co-producer
Executive producer
Year | Title | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
1996–97 | Dangerous Minds | ||
1998–99 | Soldier of Fortune, Inc. | ||
1998 | Max Q | TV films | |
1999 | Swing Vote | ||
2000–15 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | ||
2001–present | The Amazing Race | ||
2002–09 | Without a Trace | ||
2002–12 | CSI: Miami | ||
2002–03 | The Legacy | ||
2003 | Profiles from the Front Line | ||
2003–04 | Skin | ||
2003–10 | Cold Case | ||
2004–13 | CSI: NY | ||
2005–06 | Just Legal | ||
2005–06 | E-Ring | ||
2005–07 | Close to Home | ||
2006 | Modern Men | ||
2006–07 | Justice | ||
2008–09 | Eleventh Hour | ||
2009–10 | The Forgotten | ||
2009–10 | Dark Blue | ||
2010 | Miami Medical | ||
2010–11 | Chase | ||
2010–11 | The Whole Truth | ||
2013–14 | Hostages | ||
2015–16 | CSI: Cyber | ||
2016–21 | Lucifer | ||
2017 | Training Day | ||
2020 | Council of Dads | ||
2020–2024 | Hightown | ||
2021–2024 | CSI: Vegas | A sequel of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | |
2021 | Cocaine Cowboys | Inspired by the 2006 Cocaine Cowboys documentary | |
2022–present | Fire Country | ||
2022–2023 | American Gigolo | ||
2022–2023 | National Treasure: Edge of History | ||
2024–present | The Real CSI: Miami | ||
TBA | Family Crimes |
His productions collected the following:
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a 2003 American fantasy swashbuckler film directed by Gore Verbinski. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the film is based on the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disney theme parks and is the first film in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. The film stars Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley. The plot follows the pirate Jack Sparrow (Depp) and the blacksmith Will Turner (Bloom), as they attempt to rescue the kidnapped Elizabeth Swann (Knightley). The trio encounters Captain Hector Barbossa (Rush) and the crew of the Black Pearl, who are afflicted by a supernatural curse.
Touchstone Pictures was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featured more mature themes targeted at adult audiences than typical Walt Disney Pictures films. As such, Touchstone was merely a pseudonym label for the studio and did not exist as a distinct business operation.
Anthony David Leighton Scott was an English filmmaker.
Days of Thunder is a 1990 American sports action drama film produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Tony Scott. The film stars Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, Cary Elwes, Caroline Williams, and Michael Rooker. It also features appearances by real life NASCAR racers, such as Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, Neil Bonnett, and Harry Gant. Commentator Dr. Jerry Punch, of ESPN, has a cameo appearance, as does co-producer Don Simpson.
Donald Clarence Simpson was an American film producer, screenwriter, and actor, known for his work in blockbuster films of the 1980s and '90s. Simpson entered the film industry in the 1970s and worked at Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures. He eventually began a professional partnership with Jerry Bruckheimer, and together, they produced hit films such as Flashdance (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Top Gun (1986), and The Rock (1996). As his stature in Hollywood grew, Simpson became notorious for his debauched lifestyle, which included severe and longstanding substance abuse, and he ultimately died from heart failure caused by an overdose of cocaine and prescription drugs. By the time of his death, his and Bruckheimer's films had grossed over $3 billion worldwide.
Gregor Justin "Gore" Verbinski is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for directing Mouse Hunt, The Ring, the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, and Rango. For his work on Rango, Verbinski won both the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film.
Daniel John Cannon is a British film and television producer, director and writer, known for executive producing the 15-season CSI: Crime Scene Investigation series franchise, and simultaneously executive producing the CSI: Miami and CSI: NY spin-offs.
Justin Haythe is an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his book The Honeymoon, and the screenplay for Revolutionary Road, directed by Sam Mendes.
Joachim Rønning is a Norwegian film director, producer, and writer best known for the Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated Kon-Tiki and the Disney action-adventure films Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales starring Johnny Depp and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil starring Angelina Jolie. Rønning's films have grossed more than 1.3 billion dollars at the box office. Rønning's most recent work is directing Disney's Young Woman and the Sea starring Daisy Ridley.
Pirates of the Caribbean is an American fantasy supernatural swashbuckler film series produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and based on Walt Disney's theme park attraction of the same name. The film series serves as a major component of the titular media franchise. Based on a fictionalized version of the Golden Age of Piracy, the films' plots are set primarily in the Caribbean.
Beverly Hills Cop is a film franchise of American action comedy films and an unaired television pilot based on characters created by Daniel Petrie Jr. and Danilo Bach. The films star Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit cop who travels to Beverly Hills, California to investigate a crime, even though it is out of his jurisdiction.
Scott Free Productions is a film and television production company founded by English filmmakers and brothers Ridley and Tony Scott in 1995. The result of multiple mergers between companies established by the Scott brothers since 1971, it currently has offices in London and Los Angeles.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a 2011 American fantasy swashbuckler film directed by Rob Marshall and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, from a screenplay by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. The fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, it is a standalone sequel to At World's End (2007), and is loosely based on the 1987 novel On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers. Johnny Depp, Kevin R. McNally and Geoffrey Rush reprise their roles from the previous films, with Penélope Cruz and Ian McShane joining the cast. The story follows the eccentric pirate Captain Jack Sparrow on a quest for the Fountain of Youth after crossing paths with Angelica, a mysterious woman from his past, and being forced aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the legendary pirate Blackbeard.
Jerry Bruckheimer Films Inc. (JBF) is an American independent film production company formed by Jerry Bruckheimer in 1995, after cutting his ties with film producer Don Simpson before his death in 1996. It produces blockbuster films such as the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
The Lone Ranger is a 2013 American Western action film directed by Gore Verbinski and written by Justin Haythe, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Based on the title character of the same name, the film stars Johnny Depp as Tonto, the narrator of the events and Armie Hammer as John Reid, the Lone Ranger. The story tells through Tonto's memories of the duo's earliest efforts to subdue local villainy and bring justice to the American Old West. William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, Ruth Wilson, James Badge Dale, Tom Wilkinson, Helena Bonham Carter and Curtis Cregan are featured in supporting roles. This was the first theatrical film featuring the Lone Ranger and Tonto characters since William A. Fraker's 1981 film, The Legend of the Lone Ranger.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is a 2017 American swashbuckler fantasy film directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and written by Jeff Nathanson from a story credited to both Nathanson and executive producer Terry Rossio. The fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, the film stars Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario, and Kevin McNally. The story follows Captain Jack Sparrow as he searches for the Trident of Poseidon to defeat Armando Salazar, who is determined to kill every pirate at sea and take revenge on Sparrow for imprisoning him and his crew of ghosts in the Devil's Triangle.
George Watters II is an American retired sound editor with more than 80 feature film credits. He has won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing twice, for The Hunt for Red October (1990) and for Pearl Harbor (2001).
Top Gun: Maverick is a 2022 American action drama film directed by Joseph Kosinski and written by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie from stories by Peter Craig and Justin Marks. A sequel to the 1986 film Top Gun, Tom Cruise reprises his starring role as the naval aviator Maverick. It also stars Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris and Val Kilmer, who reprises his role as Iceman. The story involves Maverick confronting his past while training a group of younger Top Gun graduates, including the son of his deceased best friend, for a dangerous mission.
Brigham Taylor is a film producer for Walt Disney Pictures. He has worked for Disney since 1994, and became a producer for the company in 2014. He co-produced the live-action films The Jungle Book and Christopher Robin.
Jerry Bruckheimer's 70th birthday is tomorrow (Saturday, September 21).