Rawson Marshall Thurber

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Rawson Marshall Thurber
Rawson Marshall Thurber 2018 (cropped).jpg
Thurber at the Hong Kong premiere of Skyscraper in 2018
Born (1975-02-09) February 9, 1975 (age 50)
Occupations
  • Filmmaker
  • actor
Years active1997–present
Notable work Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
We're the Millers
Central Intelligence
Skyscraper
Red Notice

Rawson Marshall Thurber (born February 9, 1975) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for writing and directing the 2004 comedy film Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story .

Contents

Early life

Thurber was born in San Francisco, California. [1] He is the son of attorney Marshall Thurber. [2]

He is a 1997 graduate of Union College (Schenectady, New York), where he was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity and played wide receiver on the football team for two years. He is also a graduate of the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC. [3]

Career

Thurber worked as an assistant to screenwriter John August, beginning with the television show D.C. [4] In 2002, he wrote and directed the original Terry Tate: Office Linebacker commercials for Reebok. [5]

In 2004, he wrote and directed the critically and commercially successful comedy film Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story . [6]

He wrote and directed the film adaptation of Michael Chabon's novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh , released in 2008. [7]

He directed the 2013 We're the Millers , starring Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston. [8] In June 2014, he was rumored to replace Edgar Wright to direct Marvel's Ant-Man , but later turned the job down. [9]

He wrote and directed 2016's action-comedy Central Intelligence with Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. [10]

Thurber wrote and directed the 2018 action film Skyscraper from Legendary Pictures, reteaming with Dwayne Johnson and released by Universal. [11] He next wrote and directed Legendary's $150 million budget action comedy Red Notice (2021), starring Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and Johnson. It is the third time he has collaborated with the latter. [12] The project was released by Netflix. [13]

In 2021, Ubisoft announced Thurber would direct the film adaptation of its game series The Division, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain. [14] The film will be released on Netflix.

In 2022, eOne announced that Thurber will be writing and producing the pilot for upcoming TV series Dungeons & Dragons. [15] He also signed on to direct a live-action film based on the Voltron franchise. [16]

In 2023 to 2024, he was planning to do a Dodgeball sequel. He also hired Clay Tarver to write the film's screenplay. Ten years on from that development, Jordan VanDina will now write the movie's script. [17]

Filmography

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducer
2004 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story YesYesNo
2008 The Mysteries of Pittsburgh YesYesYes
2013 We're the Millers YesNoNo
2016 Central Intelligence YesYesNo
2017Play Dodgeball with Ben Stiller (online video short)YesYesNo
2018 Skyscraper YesYesYes
2021 Red Notice YesYesYes
TBA Voltron YesYesYes
TBA The Division YesNoNo

Acting credits

YearTitleRole
2004 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story Obnoxious Las Vegas Homophobe
2007 The Nines Game Night Guest
2010 Easy A Quiznos Guy
2013 We're the Millers The Ultimate Border Guard
2015 The Wedding Ringer Cop
2016 Central Intelligence Handsome Pants-Catcher
2022 Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers Voltron Vendor

References

  1. Lee, Chris (January 20, 2008). "From reward to risk". Los Angeles Times. ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  2. "F. Marshall Thurber #47196". calbar.ca.
  3. "Rawson Thurber '97 is creator of Dodgeball". Union College News Archives. June 29, 2004. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  4. "Johnaugust.com". Johnaugust.com. April 14, 2010. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  5. "The Man Behind Reebok's Terry Tate" . Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  6. Holden, Stephen (June 18, 2004). "FILM REVIEW; Loser Nerds vs. Pumped-Up Jocks (Revenge Again?)". The New York Times . Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  7. Scott, A. O. (April 10, 2009). "A Stockbroker in Training Has Turns in His Journey". The New York Times.
  8. Fleming, Mike Jr. (April 22, 2015). "3-Agency Tug Of War Ends With WME Signing 'Dodgeball' Helmer Rawson Marshall Thurber". Deadline. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  9. Simon Brew. "Denofgeek.com". Den of Geek. Denofgeek.com. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  10. "'Central Intelligence': Rawson Marshall Thurber on Directing a Spy Comedy that Doesn't Wink at the Audience". Collider. June 19, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  11. Kit, Borys (May 26, 2016). "Legendary Wins Bidding War for China-Set Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Action Movie (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  12. Fritz, Ben (March 9, 2018). "How Much Does Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Make for One Movie?". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  13. Fleming, Mike (July 8, 2019). "Netflix Takes 'Red Notice'; Ryan Reynolds Joins Dwayne Johnson & Gal Gadot In Rawson Marshall Thurber-Directed Global Heist Film". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved February 7, 2020.
  14. Nakamura, Reid (August 2, 2016). "Jessica Chastain Joins Jake Gyllenhaal in Tom Clancy Video Game Adaptation 'The Division'". The Wrap.
  15. Andreeva, Nellie (January 31, 2022). "Rawson Marshall Thurber To Spearhead Flagship 'Dungeons & Dragons' TV Series For eOne". Deadline. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  16. Andreeva, Nellie (March 23, 2022). "Live-Action 'Voltron' Movie, With Rawson Marshall Thurber to Direct, Ignites Bidding War (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  17. Norman, Dalton (June 20, 2023). "Dodgeball 2: Cast, Story & Everything We Know". ScreenRant. Retrieved January 23, 2025.