Mark David Rosenthal is an American screenwriter and film director. He is also the long-time writing partner of Lawrence Konner. The writing team work together on the films The Legend of Billie Jean, The Jewel of the Nile, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, as well as the screenplays for Mona Lisa Smile, Flicka, and Mercury Rising.
Rosenthal was born to a Jewish family in Philadelphia. [1] He holds a Doctor of Arts degree from the University of the Pacific. [2]
Rosenthal sold the first screenplay he wrote, which came out theatrically as The Legend of Billie Jean . This was followed by such films as The Jewel of the Nile , The Beverly Hillbillies , Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes , Mona Lisa Smile , Mighty Joe Young and The Sorcerer's Apprentice . He also did uncredited work on I, Robot and Eragon . [3] [4] Rosenthal co-wrote (with Konner) and directed The In Crowd for Orion Studios.
Rosenthal is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences. [5] and was featured in the documentaries Tales From The Script: 50 Hollywood Screenwriters Share Their Stories [6] and Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films, [7] where he details his experiences working on Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.
Rosenthal recorded a DVD commentary for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace for the Deluxe Edition of the film in 2006. He discussed the film's original intentions and deleted scenes. Rosenthal has also described the final film as production company Cannon Films stabbing star Christopher Reeve in the back. According to Rosenthal, Reeve and director Sidney J. Furie begged Cannon Films to film a sequence in New York City, in front of the real United Nations Building, because filmgoers were very familiar with that location, but the Milton Keynes setting looked more like a municipal auditorium. However, Cannon refused because they were "pinching pennies at every step". Rosenthal also revealed that he and writer Lawrence Konner wanted Reeve to play Nuclear Man as well as his dual roles of Superman and Clark Kent in the film. They imagined the villain being a darker version of the hero in the cloning process. The effect would have been costly to achieve and the idea had already been explored in Superman III . Therefore, Cannon hired actor Mark Pillow for the part of Nuclear Man. Also according to Rosenthal, there are approximately 45 minutes of the film that have not been seen by the public after they were deleted, following a failed Southern California test screening. [8]
Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, author, and activist, best known for playing the title character in the film Superman (1978) and its three sequels. Born in New York City and raised in Princeton, New Jersey, Reeve discovered a passion for acting and theater at the age of nine. He studied at Cornell University and the Juilliard School, making his Broadway debut in 1976. After his acclaimed performances in Superman and Superman II, Reeve declined many roles in action movies, choosing instead to work in small films and plays with more complex characters. He later appeared in critically successful films such as The Bostonians (1984), Street Smart (1987), and The Remains of the Day (1993), and in the plays Fifth of July on Broadway and The Aspern Papers in London's West End.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is a 1987 superhero film directed by Sidney J. Furie and written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal from a story by Christopher Reeve, Konner, and Rosenthal based on the DC Comics character Superman. The film stars Reeve, Gene Hackman, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Jon Cryer, Sam Wanamaker, Jim Broadbent, Mariel Hemingway, and Margot Kidder.
The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that invested heavily in the video market, buying the international video rights to several classic film libraries. Some of their best known films include Joe (1970), Runaway Train (1985) and Street Smart (1987), all of which were Oscar-nominated.
Mona Lisa Smile is a 2003 American drama film produced by Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures in association with Red Om Films Productions, directed by Mike Newell, written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, and starring Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The title is a reference to the Mona Lisa, the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, and to the song of the same name, originally performed by Nat King Cole, which was covered by Seal for the movie. Julia Roberts received a record $25 million for her performance, the highest ever earned by an actress at that time.
John Hollis was a British actor of TV and film. He is known for his uncredited appearance as Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only, as well as for his appearances in the Superman films, Casino Royale, The Dirty Dozen, Flash Gordon, and The Empire Strikes Back.
Superboy is an American television series based on the fictional DC Comics character Superman's early years as Superboy. The show ran from 1988–1992 in syndication. It was renamed The Adventures of Superboy at the start of the third season.
Street Smart is a 1987 American crime thriller film directed by Jerry Schatzberg and starring Christopher Reeve, Morgan Freeman, Kathy Baker and Mimi Rogers. Reeve portrays an ambitious reporter who fabricates an interview with a pimp. When a real pimp who closely matches the fictional description (Freeman) is indicted for murder, both he and the prosecutor try to exploit the reporter for their own ends.
Flicka is a 2006 American family adventure drama film loosely based on the 1941 children's novel My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara. The film is directed by Michael Mayer and written by Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner. The novel had previously been made into a film by 20th Century Fox in 1943, and served as the inspiration for My Friend Flicka, a 39-episode TV series in 1956–1957. In this version, set in the 21st century, the protagonist is a girl, played by Alison Lohman. The film also features Maria Bello, Ryan Kwanten and country singer Tim McGraw, who also served as executive producer of the soundtrack album. This USD15 million-budgeted film grossed $21 million in the United States theaters, and then it went on to become a surprise hit in DVD market in the United States; it made more than $48 million on DVD sales and more than $19 million on DVD/Home Video rental.
Sidney Joseph Furie is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his extensive work in both British and American cinema between the 1960s and early 1980s. Like his contemporaries Norman Jewison and Ted Kotcheff, he was one of the earliest Canadian directors to achieve mainstream critical and financial success outside their native country at a time when its film industry was virtually nonexistent. He won a BAFTA Film Award and was nominated for a Palme d'Or for his work on the acclaimed spy thriller The Ipcress File (1965) starring Michael Caine.
Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman is a 2006 documentary film from executive producers Bryan Singer and Kevin Burns which details the history of the Superman franchise, from comic book, to television, to the big screen. The story of Superman is told through archival footage, as well as interviews with many of the actors, directors, and producers involved with the Superman media over the years. The closing credits feature outtakes from the Christopher Reeve Superman films, including an outtake of Marlon Brando improvising during the recitation of a poem in a scene deleted from the original version of Superman II.
Yoram Globus is an Israeli–American film producer, cinema owner, and distributor. He has been involved in over 300 full-length motion pictures and he is most known for his association with The Cannon Group, Inc., an American film production company, which he co-owned with his cousin Menahem Golan.
DC Comics's Superman franchise, based on the character of the same name created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in June 1938, has seen the release of various films since its inception. The character debuted in cinemas in a series of animated shorts beginning in 1941, and then was the protagonist of two movie serials in 1948 and 1950. An independent studio, Lippert Pictures, released the first Superman feature film, Superman and the Mole Men, starring George Reeves, in 1951. In 1973, the film rights to the Superman character were purchased by Ilya Salkind, Alexander Salkind, and Pierre Spengler. After numerous scripts and several years in development, Richard Donner was hired as their director, and he shot two films, Superman (1978), and Superman II (1980), at the same time, both starring Christopher Reeve. Donner had already shot eighty percent of Superman II before it was decided to finish shooting the first film. The Salkinds fired Donner after Superman's release and commissioned Richard Lester as the director to finish Superman II. Lester returned to direct Superman III (1983). The Salkinds also produced the related spin-off Supergirl (1984). They then sold the rights to Cannon Films, which produced the poorly reviewed Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987). Ilya Salkind commissioned a fifth Superman script before Warner Bros. acquired the rights entirely in 1993.
Lawrence Konner is an American screenwriter, producer and film director. Konner has written over twenty-five feature films, including Mona Lisa Smile, Planet of the Apes, The Legend of Billie Jean, The Jewel of the Nile, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Konner’s writing for television spans over forty-five years. His works include the HBO series The Sopranos, for which Konner earned an Emmy nomination in 2001, and Boardwalk Empire, for which he received the WGA Award for Best New Series in 2010. He was also nominated for an Emmy for his work as writer and executive producer on the 2016 miniseries Roots. Other television credits include Family and Little House on the Prairie.
Planet of the Apes is a 2001 American science fiction adventure film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by William Broyles Jr., Lawrence Konner, and Mark Rosenthal. The sixth installment in the Planet of the Apes film series, it is loosely based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Pierre Boulle and serves as a remake of the 1968 film version. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan, Kris Kristofferson, Estella Warren, and Paul Giamatti. It tells the story of astronaut Leo Davidson (Wahlberg) crash-landing on a planet inhabited by intelligent apes. The apes treat humans as slaves, but with the help of an ape named Ari, Leo starts a rebellion as he seeks to return.
Alfred Charles Richard Joint was a British film and television stunt performer, stunt coordinator and arranger.
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films is a 2014 Australian-American documentary film written and directed by Mark Hartley. It tells the story of cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus who headed The Cannon Group. Those interviewed lay tribute to the brash, unconventional immigrant filmmakers who gave young actors a chance and give unflinching anecdotes of both the hits and the low budget and often crass films created.
Superman (Kal-El) or Clark Kent is a fictional character portrayed by Christopher Reeve in the Warner Bros. Superman film series produced by Ilya and Alexander Salkind and Cannon Films, and is an adaption of the original DC Comics character, Superman. Many actors were interviewed for the part before Christopher Reeve was chosen to fill the role. Superman is portrayed as a superhero who stands for "truth, justice and the American way".
Lois Lane is a fictional character portrayed by Canadian-born actress Margot Kidder in the Warner Bros. Superman film series produced by Ilya and Alexander Salkind, and is an adaption of the original comic book character, Lois Lane. Kidder played Lois Lane opposite Christopher Reeve in Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983), and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987). The role proved to be Kidder's most notable, catapulting her to international fame, and this iteration of Lois Lane has been considered one of the most iconic love interests in superhero films.
Lex Luthor is a supervillain portrayed by American-actor Gene Hackman in the Warner Bros. Superman film series produced by Ilya and Alexander Salkind, and is an adaption of the original DC Comics character, Lex Luthor. Luthor's girlfriend, film-original character Eve Teschmacher, was later adapted to comic books and other media.
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