Kelly Marcel

Last updated

Kelly Marcel
Born (1974-01-10) 10 January 1974 (age 50)
London, England
Alma mater University of Exeter
Occupations
  • Screenwriter
  • director
  • producer
  • actress
Years active1989–present
Father Terry Marcel
Relatives Rosie Marcel (sister)

Kelly Marcel (born 10 January 1974) is an English filmmaker, and former actress.

Contents

After working as a child actor in the United Kingdom, Marcel had her breakout as a screenwriter in Hollywood when her script for Saving Mr. Banks made the 2011 Black List and was quickly acquired by Disney, which released the film in 2013. She is also known for writing the 2015 film adaptation of E. L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey and the Sony's Spider-Man Universe film Venom (2018) as well as its sequels Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) and Venom: The Last Dance (2024), the latter of which she directed in her directorial debut.

Marcel also created and served as executive producer of the television series Terra Nova (2011) and The Changeling (2023), for which she was also the showrunner and is credited with writing eight episodes.

Early life

Marcel was born in London, England, and studied English literature at the University of Exeter. [1] Her father is filmmaker Terry Marcel, and she has a sister, actress Rosie Marcel.

Career

Child acting career (1989–2003)

Marcel worked as a child actor in the United Kingdom, playing minor roles in television series such as The Bill , Holby City , and Casualty . [2] She also had a largely non-speaking role as Young Vera in the 1994 television film adaptation of A Dark-Adapted Eye .

Early work as screenwriter (2008–2011)

Marcel eventually quit acting to pursue writing while working part-time in Prime Time Video, a video rental shop in Battersea, London. Around the corner from the video shop was the Latchmere pub, where Tom Hardy hosted an acting workshop. Marcel and Hardy became friends, and he subsequently brought Marcel in to do uncredited rewrites on his 2008 film Bronson , directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, after it ran into trouble. One of Hardy's tattoos says 'Skribe' in tribute to Marcel. [3]

While working at the video shop, she wrote a script for a TV show called Gondwanaland Highway. She wrote it for her father, who had been telling her about the supercontinent Gondwanaland and reading a Stephen Hawking book on time travel. Marcel, who had just seen Al Gore's 2006 global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth , combined these three influences into the script. Gondwanaland Highway was almost picked up by Carnival Films, the UK production company behind Downton Abbey , when producer Aaron Kaplan persuaded Marcel to bring the show to America instead. [4]

She sold a script about death row, titled Westbridge, to Showtime. She worked on the script with director Thomas Schlamme. Though the script went unmade, it became a calling card for Marcel in Hollywood. [4]

Hollywood breakthrough (2011–2013)

After her two-week trip to Los Angeles and her decision not to continue working on Terra Nova, Marcel returned to the London video shop. She was approached by Ruby Films' Alison Owen to work on a project about Mary Poppins author P. L. Travers and her relationship with Walt Disney for BBC Films, based on an earlier draft by Sue Smith. [5] The script, Saving Mr. Banks , landed on the 2011 Black List, and was acquired by Disney. [6]

The film was released in 2013, directed by John Lee Hancock, and starring Tom Hanks as Walt Disney and Emma Thompson as P. L. Travers. Marcel and Smith shared writing credit. [7] Marcel was nominated for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer at the 67th Annual BAFTA Awards. [8]

Box office success as screenwriter (2014–2021)

Marcel was hired in 2012 to adapt E. L. James' bestselling erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey , with Sam Taylor-Johnson directing, after Universal Pictures and Focus Features won the rights to the Fifty Shades trilogy for $5 million in a bidding war. [9] Though the film was financially successful, grossing $571.1 million worldwide on a $40 million budget and spawning two sequels, both Marcel and Johnson expressed unhappiness with the finished film, with Marcel describing it as too painful to watch. [10] Of particular issue was James' insistence that the film preserve her original dialogue in its entirety, and threatening to boycott the film if the dialogue was rewritten. [11]

She was one of the writers on Sony's Venom adaptation, alongside Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, the film stars Marcel's friend and frequent collaborator Tom Hardy in the title role. [12] She returned to write the scripts for Venom's first and second sequels, Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) and Venom: The Last Dance (2024), receiving sole writing credit on both movies. [13] The first two Venom movies were both big successes at the box office and have been by far the most financially successful of all the live-action movies in the Sony Universe of Marvel Characters (SUMC). [14] The third movie was released in October 2024.

Success as TV and film writer, creator, showrunner, and director (2022–present)

In October 2022, it was announced that Marcel would be making her directorial debut in 2024 with Venom: The Last Dance , in addition to writing and producing the film. [15] [16] The Last Dance marks the third movie in Sony's Venom trilogy, all of which have been written or co-written by Marcel.

In September 2023, The Changeling premiered on Apple TV+ with Marcel at the show's helm as its creator, showrunner, and the credited writer for all eight episodes in the first season. Marcel worked in close, intense collaboration with author Victor LaValle in adapting his award-winning 2017 novel The Changeling into a television show with the same name for Apple TV+ that premiered in October 2023. When asked about this project, Marcel stated "I think part of being faithful to a novel whilst also expanding it for TV is finding a miraculous partner like Victor [LaValle], who will come along on the journey with you,” adding that LaValle was on-set every day and encouraged her to experiment with his story. LaValle echoed similar comments about his admiration for Marcel: "The best kind of leader says, 'All of you have power and you come to me and I will take every good thing, every good idea you have, and run with it. And Kelly was such a model of that kind of confidence. I felt very honored." [17] The show was well received by critics, with Allison Picurro of TV Guide writing that "Anyone willing to go along for the ride is in for an enchanting storybook of a series, one of the year's most singular offerings."

Filmography

Film

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerNotes
2008 Bronson NoScript EditorNoReported to have done an emergency final rewrite of script (uncredited) [3]
2010 The Heavy NoScript EditorNo
2013 Saving Mr. Banks NoYesNo
2015 Fifty Shades of Grey NoYesNo
Mad Max: Fury Road NoNoNoUncredited script work; [18] thanked in credits
2018 Venom NoYesExecutive
2021 Cruella NoStoryNo
Venom: Let There Be Carnage NoYesYes
2024 Venom: The Last Dance YesYesYesDirectorial debut

Television

YearTitleWriterExecutive
Producer		CreatorNotes
2011 Terra Nova YesYesYesWrote episode "Genesis: Part 1"
2023 The Changeling YesYesYesShowrunner; wrote 8 episodes

Acting Career

YearTitleRoleNotes
1989 Great Balls of Fire! Teenage Girl #2
1989–2005 The Bill Various5 episodes
1992 Casualty Vicky MorrisEpisode "Rates of Exchange"
1993 Woof! MirandaEpisode "Miranda"
1994 The Barbara Vine Mysteries Young VeraSeries 3 ("A Dark-Adapted Eye")
Love Hurts LouiseEpisode "Blue Heaven"
Wild Justice Melissa StrideTV movie
1997 Dangerfield Elaine FosterEpisode "Adam"
2003 Holby City Rachel HughesEpisode "Endgame"

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References

  1. ↑ "The Creative Screenwriter Behind Iconic Movies Is Kelly Marcel". News Pathways. 2 October 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  2. ↑ Collins, Scott (11 September 2011). "Fall TV: 'Terra Nova'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 13 September 2011.[ dead link ]
  3. 1 2 Leigh, Danny (21 November 2013). "Kelly Marcel: 'Someone from Disney's going to come and kill me'". The Guardian . Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Kelly's heroics: How the British writer behind TV's most expensive drama cracked LA". The Independent . 28 September 2011.
  5. ↑ "Director John Lee Hancock on 'Saving Mr. Banks': We Went for the Truth, Not the Facts". TheWrap. 17 December 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  6. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (8 February 2012). "Disney Acquiring Black List Script 'Saving Mr. Banks,' On Making 'Mary Poppins'". Deadline. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  7. ↑ Smith, Julia Llewellyn (23 December 2016). "Saving Mr Banks: the true story of Walt Disney's battle to make Mary Poppins". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "Bafta Film Awards 2014: Winners". BBC News. 16 February 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  9. ↑ "'Fifty Shades of Grey' Movie Hires Writer". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  10. ↑ Child, Ben (10 June 2015). "Fifty Shades of Grey screenwriter says film is 'too painful' to watch". the Guardian. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  11. ↑ Child, Ben (6 February 2015). "Fifty Shades of grating teeth: EL James 'threatened boycott' of film if dialogue rewritten". the Guardian. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  12. ↑ Kroll, Justin (3 October 2017). "Jenny Slate Joins Tom Hardy in 'Venom' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  13. ↑ Kroll, Justin (8 January 2019). "'Venom' Sequel in Works With Kelly Marcel Returning to Pen Script (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  14. ↑ "Sony's Marvel Universe Franchise Box Office History". The Numbers. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  15. ↑ Kroll, Justin (28 October 2022). "'Venom 3': Kelly Marcel Set to Direct Next Installment Starring Tom Hardy". Deadline. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  16. ↑ Bergenson, Samantha (8 March 2023). "28 Rising Female Filmmakers to Watch in 2023". Indie Wire. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  17. ↑ Codega, Linda (14 October 2023). "Victor LaValle on Bringing Women's Perspectives Into The Changeling". Gizmodo. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  18. ↑ Nash, Cara (3 August 2023). "Unsung Auteurs: Kelly Marcel". FilmInk. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
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