Roger Avary

Last updated
Roger Avary
Roger Avary 2012.jpg
Avary in 2012
Born
Roger Roberts Avary

(1965-08-23) August 23, 1965 (age 59)
Nationality Canadian
American [1]
Occupation(s)Director, screenwriter, producer
Years active1992–present

Roger Roberts Avary [1] (born August 23, 1965) is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his work with Quentin Tarantino on the script for Pulp Fiction (1994), for which they won Best Original Screenplay at the 67th Academy Awards. Avary has also directed films such as Killing Zoe (1993) and The Rules of Attraction (2002), and wrote the screenplays for Silent Hill (2006) and Beowulf (2007). [2]

Contents

In 2022, Avary reunited with Tarantino to launch a podcast called The Video Archives Podcast. [3] The first episode premiered on July 19, 2022. [4]

Early life

Roger Roberts Avary was born in Flin Flon, Manitoba in Canada on August 23, 1965 to a Brazilian-raised father who worked as a mining engineer, and a German mother who worked as a physical therapist. They later moved to Oracle, Arizona, and later Torrance, California before settling in Manhattan Beach. [1]

Career

1990s

In 1993 Avary directed his feature film debut with Killing Zoe . The film follows an American safe-cracker (Eric Stoltz) who travels to Paris to aid a childhood friend (Jean-Hugues Anglade) with a bank heist. Along the way he meets and befriends a sex worker (Julie Delpy) whose fate becomes tied with the crime. [5] The film premiered at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win the Grand Prize award at the 5th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. [6]

Avary and Quentin Tarantino worked on the 1994 film Pulp Fiction , for which they won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. [7] According to Tarantino, Avary originally came up with the plot of the boxer Butch Coolidge and his gold watch from a screenplay named Pandemonium Reigns which Avary had written himself. [8]

In 1995 Avary wrote and directed the science fiction film Mr. Stitch for Syfy, then The Sci-Fi Channel. Loosely a modern take on Frankenstein, the film features Wil Wheaton, Rutger Hauer, Nia Peeples, and Ron Perlman. [9]

2000s

In 2002, Avary directed the film adaptation for The Rules of Attraction , based on Bret Easton Ellis' novel, which he also executive produced. [10] The Rules of Attraction was the first studio film to be edited on Apple's Final Cut Pro editing system. [11] Avary became a spokesperson for Final Cut Pro product, [12] appearing in Apple print and web ads worldwide. In 2005, Avary, at the request of his friend, actor James Van Der Beek, played the part of a peyote-taking gonzo film director Franklin Brauner in the film Standing Still . [13] The film Glitterati was finished in 2004 and stars Kip Pardue. It can never be released because of legal and ethical concerns.

In 2006, Avary wrote a screenplay adaptation to the Konami video game, Silent Hill (2006), with French director and friend, Christophe Gans, and Killing Zoe producer Samuel Hadida. Avary and Gans being long time gamers and fans of the Silent Hill series, collaborated on the film. [14] Avary and novelist Neil Gaiman wrote the screenplay for the 2007 film Beowulf which was directed by Robert Zemeckis. [15]

2010s and 2020s

In September 2017 Avary directed his own screenplay, Lucky Day , a semi-sequel of Killing Zoe. [16] In 2018 he shot an adaptation of Jean Cocteau's play La voix humaine that remains unreleased.

After Pulp Fiction, Avary had a falling-out with Tarantino that lasted nearly twenty-five years. [17] The two rekindled their friendship after Tarantino heard Avary being interviewed on a 2019 episode of Bret Easton Ellis's podcast. In 2021, Quentin Tarantino announced that he and Avary would launch a podcast titled The Video Archives Podcast. [18] The point of the podcast is to discuss films from the actual Video Archives collection that they would recommend to customers when they worked there. The set is surrounded by actual VHS copies of films from Video Archives that Tarantino bought after the store went out of business. They are joined by podcast announcer, Gala Avary, Roger Avary's daughter. The first episode premiered on July 19, 2022. [4] The duo discussed John Carpenter's Dark Star (1974) and Ulli Lommel's Cocaine Cowboys (1979).

Unproduced works

After winning an Oscar for Pulp Fiction, he was originally attached to direct an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's comic book The Sandman , which merged the "Preludes and Nocturnes" storyline with that of "The Doll's House". Avary was fired after disagreements over the creative direction with executive producer Jon Peters. It was due to their meeting on the Sandman film project that Avary and Gaiman collaborated on the script for Beowulf . [19] Avary had originally intended upon directing his script of Beowulf himself as a live action film, to be shot in Iceland with a $10 million budget. "I wanted it to be like an early Terry Gilliam film, like Jabberwocky ," he said. The film was ultimately directed by Robert Zemeckis and instead produced using motion capture technology. [20]

In the late 1990s, Avary reached out to Don Coscarelli and expressed an interest in writing a Phantasm sequel. [21] Entitled Phantasm 1999, the film would have taken place in an apocalyptic future United States divided into three zones: Los Angeles, California; New York, New York; and the Plague Zone. The Plague Zone would be controlled by the Tall Man where he infects people with his "bag plague". [21] Reggie must lead a secret government operation, called the "S Squad", into the Plague Zone to defeat the Tall Man. [21] Avary and Coscarelli spent years trying to get the film made and even had financing in place in 1997 before that company changed hands and the deal evaporated. [21] Eventually, Coscarelli made Phantasm IV without Avary, although as of 2022 Coscarelli still had interest in filming Avary's script, now entitled Phantasm’s End as 1999 has come and gone. [21]

Through the 90s and early 2000s Avary attempted to direct a film based on the life of Salvador Dalí that had Al Pacino attached to star as the painter at one stage, but the project fell apart and never came to fruition. [22]

After The Rules of Attraction and Glitterati , Avary had intentions to film his screenplay of Bret Easton Ellis's 1998 novel Glamorama . [23] Kip Pardue was attached to reprise his role as Victor Ward. The project never moved beyond the pre-production stage. When asked about the film's status in a 2010 interview, Ellis said: "I think the days of being able to make that movie are over." [24] However, the following year Ellis confirmed that Avary was planning to shoot the feature in 2012. [25]

In 2006, French director Alexandre Aja was set to direct a feature film adaptation of the Black Hole comics, with Neil Gaiman and Avary attached to adapt the screenplay. [26] By 2008, it was reported by MTV that Gaiman and Avary had left the production and that their script would not be used for David Fincher's planned version, [27] which was ultimately not produced. He was also attached to write and direct a Castle Wolfenstein film adaptation both in 2007 and 2012. [28]

While in prison, Avary came across an "old Penguin paperback" on a book cart of a Robin Hood story written by E. Charles Vivian and decided to adapt the material, sending the pages he wrote to his lawyer to have his daughter type up into a script. "I was crying when I wrote it," Avary noted. "When you're writing like that and you're feeling that much, it's not a bad thing." [20]

Following his prison sentence, Avary had worked on adapting Paul Verhoeven's book Jesus of Nazareth for Verhoeve to direct, oversaw rewrites on the screenplay for a planned Duncan Jones-directed biopic on James Bond creator Ian Fleming, and additionally had plans to adapt the early William Faulkner novel Sanctuary . [29] Also in 2012, Avary was planning to reteam with author Bret Easton Ellis to direct an adaptation of his novel Lunar Park , with financing from Wild Bunch. [29] Ellis himself took to Twitter in 2011, praising Avary's script as "great" and saying he "hopes he makes it." [30] Also according to Ellis, Avary planned to shoot the project in September 2012, and hinted about Aaron Eckhart's potential involvement. [31]

At some point after John Milius' stroke, Avary, along with his daughter Gala, worked with Milius to retool his unproduced feature script on Genghis Khan in the form of a limited-run series. [20] As of 2018, Avary was slated to direct Unwind, co-written with his daughter Gala and based on the dystopian novel of the same name.[ citation needed ] Avary has also written an as-yet unproduced script based on The Devil Soldier by Caleb Carr, which was in development with Antoine Fuqua directing and Mark Burman producing. [32]

Manslaughter Conviction

On January 13, 2008, Avary was arrested under suspicion of manslaughter and DUI, following a car crash in Ojai, California, in which his passenger, Andreas Zini, was killed. The Ventura County Sheriff's department responded to the crash after midnight Sunday morning on the 1900 block of East Ojai Avenue. Avary was released from jail on $50,000 bail. [33] In December 2008, he was charged with, and pleaded not guilty to, gross vehicular manslaughter and two felony counts of causing bodily injury while intoxicated. [34] He changed his plea to guilty on August 18, 2009. [35] On September 29, 2009, he was sentenced to one year in work furlough (allowing him to go to his job during the day and then report back to the furlough facility at night) and five years of probation. [36] However, after making several tweets about the conditions of his stay on Twitter, Avary was sent to Ventura County Jail to serve out the remainder of his term. [37]

Filmography

Short film

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerNotes
1983The Worm TurnsYesYesYes
The BoysNoNoYesAlso cinematographer

Feature film

YearTitleDirectorWriterExecutive
Producer
Notes
1993 Killing Zoe YesYesNo Grand Prize at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival
1994 Pulp Fiction NoStoryNo Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay
1995 Mr. Stitch YesYesYes
2002 The Rules of Attraction YesYesYes
2004 Glitterati YesYesNoUnreleased;
Also producer, editor and cinematographer
2006 Silent Hill NoYesNo
2007 Beowulf NoYesYes
2018 La voix humaine YesNoNoUnreleased
2019 Lucky Day YesYesNo

Executive producer only

Television

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerNotes
1997Odd JobsYesYesYesTV pilot
2012 XIII: The Series NoYesExecutive13 episodes

Other credits

YearTitleRole
1987Maximum PotentialProduction assistant
1987 My Best Friend's Birthday Unfinished film
Cinematographer
1992 Reservoir Dogs Writer: Background radio dialogue [38]
1993 True Romance [38] Uncredited contributions to script [38]
1995 Crying Freeman Uncredited rewrite [39]
200636 StepsSpiritual support

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quentin Tarantino</span> American filmmaker (born 1963)

Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to popular culture. His work has earned a cult following alongside critical and commercial success; he has been named by some as the single most influential director of his generation and has received numerous awards and nominations, including two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards.

<i>Pulp Fiction</i> 1994 crime film by Quentin Tarantino

Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary. It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence in Los Angeles, California. The film stars John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhames, and Uma Thurman. The title refers to the pulp magazines and hardboiled crime novels popular during the mid-20th century, known for their graphic violence and punchy dialogue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bret Easton Ellis</span> American author, screenwriter, and director (born 1964)

Bret Easton Ellis is an American author and screenwriter. Ellis was one of the literary Brat Pack and is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique, as a writer, is the expression of extreme acts and opinions in an affectless style. His novels commonly share recurring characters.

<i>Jackie Brown</i> 1997 film by Quentin Tarantino

Jackie Brown is a 1997 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, based on the 1992 novel Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard. It stars Pam Grier as Jackie Brown, a flight attendant who smuggles money between the United States and Mexico. Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton, and Robert De Niro appear in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Bateman</span> Fictional character from American Psycho

Patrick Bateman is a fictional character created by novelist Bret Easton Ellis. He is the villain protagonist and unreliable narrator of Ellis's 1991 novel American Psycho and is played by Christian Bale in the 2000 film adaptation of the same name. Bateman is a wealthy and materialistic yuppie and Wall Street investment banker who, supposedly, leads a secret life as a serial killer. He has also briefly appeared in other Ellis novels and their film and theatrical adaptations.

<i>Killing Zoe</i> 1993 film by Roger Avary

Killing Zoe is a 1993 crime film written and directed by Roger Avary and starring Eric Stoltz, Jean-Hugues Anglade and Julie Delpy. The story details a safe cracker named Zed who returns to France to aid an old friend in performing a doomed bank heist. Killing Zoe was labeled by Roger Ebert as "Generation X's first bank caper movie." In 2019, Avary directed the semi-sequel Lucky Day.

<i>Less than Zero</i> (novel) 1985 novel by Bret Easton Ellis

Less than Zero is the debut novel of Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1985. It was his first published effort, released when he was 21 years old, and still a student at Bennington College. The novel was titled after the Elvis Costello song of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Video Archives</span> Video rental store

Video Archives was a video rental store located in Manhattan Beach, California, and later moved to Hermosa Beach, California, owned and managed by Lance Lawson and Rick Humbert. Filmmakers Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary and Daniel Snyder worked there before becoming successful in the film industry. The store was also frequented by screenwriters Josh Olson, Jeff Maguire, John Langley, and Danny Strong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay McInerney</span> American writer (born 1955)

John Barrett "Jay" McInerney Jr. is an American novelist, screenwriter, editor, and columnist. His novels include Bright Lights, Big City, Ransom, Story of My Life, Brightness Falls, and The Last of the Savages. He edited The Penguin Book of New American Voices, wrote the screenplay for the 1988 film adaptation of Bright Lights, Big City, and co-wrote the screenplay for the television film Gia, which starred Angelina Jolie. He was the wine columnist for House & Garden magazine, and his essays on wine have been collected in Bacchus & Me (2000) and A Hedonist in the Cellar (2006). His most recent novel is titled Bright, Precious Days, published in 2016. From April 2010 he was a wine columnist for The Wall Street Journal. In 2009, he published a book of short stories which spanned his entire career, titled How It Ended, which was named one of the 10 best books of the year by Janet Maslin of The New York Times.

<i>Glamorama</i> 1998 novel by Bret Easton Ellis

Glamorama is a 1998 novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis. Glamorama is set in, and satirizes, the 1990s, specifically celebrity culture and consumerism. Time describes the novel as "a screed against models and celebrity".

<i>My Best Friends Birthday</i> 1987 short film directed by Quentin Tarantino

My Best Friend's Birthday is an unfinished 1987 amateur comedy film directed, edited, co-written, co-produced by and starring Quentin Tarantino. The film was shot in black-and-white and was originally meant to have a runtime of seventy minutes, but only 36 minutes of the film are edited altogether, leaving the project unfinished.

<i>The Rules of Attraction</i> (film) 2002 film by Roger Avary

The Rules of Attraction is a 2002 black comedy drama film written and directed by Roger Avary, based on Bret Easton Ellis' 1987 novel. The story follows three Camden College students who become entangled in a love triangle; a drug dealer, a virgin, and a bisexual classmate. It stars James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Ian Somerhalder, Jessica Biel, Kate Bosworth, Kip Pardue, and Joel Michaely.

<i>Beowulf</i> (2007 film) Film by Robert Zemeckis

Beowulf is a 2007 American animated fantasy action film produced and directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, based on the Old English epic poem Beowulf, and featuring the voices of Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright, Brendan Gleeson, John Malkovich, Crispin Glover, Alison Lohman, and Angelina Jolie. The film depicts the rise and fall of the warrior Beowulf after he travels to Denmark to kill a monster. It was produced by Shangri-La Entertainment and Zemeckis's ImageMovers and features characters animated using motion-capture animation, which was previously used in The Polar Express (2004) and Monster House (2006).

Glitterati is an American film directed by Roger Avary. Filmed in 2001, it remains unreleased due to various legal, ethical and music licensing concerns.

<i>Phantasm IV: Oblivion</i> 1998 American film

Phantasm IV: Oblivion is a 1998 American science fantasy horror film. The film was written, produced and directed by Don Coscarelli and starring A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister and Angus Scrimm. It is the third sequel in the Phantasm series and is followed by Phantasm: Ravager.

The 7th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards honored the finest achievements in 1994 filmmaking.

<i>Peter Ibbetson</i> 1935 film by Henry Hathaway

Peter Ibbetson is a 1935 American black-and-white drama/fantasy film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Gary Cooper and Ann Harding. The film is loosely based on the 1891 novel of the same name by George du Maurier. A tale of a love that transcends all obstacles, it relates the story of two youngsters who are separated in childhood and then drawn together by destiny years later. Even though they are separated in real life because Peter is unjustly convicted of murder, they discover they can dream themselves into each other's consciousness while asleep. In this way, they live out their lives together. The transitions between reality and fantasy are captured by the cinematography of Charles Lang, as discussed in the documentary Visions of Light (1992).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cliff Dorfman</span>

Cliff Dorfman is an American screenwriter, film director and actor best known for his work on HBO's Entourage and the 2011 feature film Warrior. Dorfman's career began in the 1990s with recurring roles on 7th Heaven and Beverly Hills 90210. He also worked as a Hollywood club promoter, appearing in the documentary film Hollywood: Wild in the Streets and in Bret Easton Ellis' 1999 novel Glamorama, in which Dorfman is named as a friend of actor Corey Feldman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quentin Tarantino's unrealized projects</span>

The following is a list of unproduced Quentin Tarantino projects in roughly chronological order. During his career, American film director Quentin Tarantino has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects were officially cancelled and scrapped or fell into development hell.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Roger Avary: Biography". Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  2. "Roger Avary". Filmbug. 2007-11-18. Retrieved 2012-10-27.
  3. "Quentin Tarantino Launches His New Movie Podcast with Roger Avary". No Film School. 2022-07-19. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  4. 1 2 Avary, The Video Archives Podcast with Quentin Tarantino and Roger. "The Video Archives Podcast with Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary - Dark Star / Cocaine Cowboys". Google Podcasts. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  5. "Killing Zoe". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
  6. "YUBARI INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC ADVENTURE FILM FESTIVAL'94". Yubarifanta.com. Archived from the original on April 7, 2004. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
  7. "Academy Awards Acceptance Speeches - Search Results | Margaret Herrick Library | Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences". aaspeechesdb.oscars.org. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  8. Russell, Calum (2021-08-23). "Roger Avary: The forgotten co-writer of 'Pulp Fiction'". faroutmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-20.
  9. Todd Everett (August 15, 1996). "Review: 'Mr. Stitch'". Variety . Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  10. "Comedy - College Movies at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved 2012-10-27.
  11. "More don't miss stories from Macworld page 1". Macworld.com. 2002-01-15. Archived from the original on 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2012-10-27.
  12. "Apple.com". Archived from the original on November 6, 2005.
  13. Clint Morris. "Exclusive Interview : James Van Der Beek". Moviehole.net. Archived from the original on 13 October 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2007.
  14. Matt Withers (20 April 2006). "INT: Roger Avary". JoBlo.com . Retrieved 21 January 2007.
  15. "Stv.tv". Archived from the original on December 13, 2007.
  16. "Director Roger Avary wrote 'Lucky Day' during year-long incarceration with 'dialogues, ruminations and themes' from 'cell block C4'".
  17. "Film Review: 'Lucky Day'". 14 October 2019.
  18. Spangler, Todd (2022-06-02). "Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary Set to Launch 'The Video Archives Podcast'". Variety. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  19. "Moriarty takes a look at what Jon Peters has done with Neil Gaiman's Sandman property". Ain't It Cool News . November 29, 1998. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013.
  20. 1 2 3 Rogan, Joe (December 10, 2024). "Joe Rogan Experience #2240 - Roger Avary & Quentin Tarantino" (video) (Podcast). PowerfulJRE. Retrieved December 12, 2024 via YouTube.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 Jenkins, Jason (May 30, 2022). "'Phantasm 1999' – Don Coscarelli Details the Wild Post-Apocalyptic Sequel We Never Saw". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  22. Schwartz, Ben (October 15, 2002). ""It seems like exactly the wrong film to make"". Salon. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  23. "Roger Avary gets lifetime rights to Ellis' GLAMORAMA! Rock and roll!". Ain't It Cool News . September 6, 2005. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  24. "Bret Easton Ellis on The Rules of Attraction and Its Sexy, Illicit Spinoff You'll Never See". Movieline . May 19, 2010. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  25. Fischer, Russ (October 13, 2011). "Bret Easton Ellis Says Roger Avary Will Direct 'Glamorama' Next Year". /Film . Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  26. Weinberg, Scott (March 8, 2006). "GAIMAN, AVARY, AND AJA TO VISIT A "BLACK HOLE"". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  27. Vineyard, Jennifer (2008-10-21). "Neil Gaiman On Adapting Charles Burns' Graphic Novel 'Black Hole'". MTV. Archived from the original on October 22, 2008. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  28. Vejvoda, Jim (November 1, 2012). "Castle Wolfenstein Movie Announced". IGN. Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  29. 1 2 Kohn, Eric (August 6, 2012). "Roger Avary's First Post-Prison Interview: Where His Career Will Take Him Next". IndieWire . Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  30. @BretEastonEllis (December 3, 2011). "Roger Avary wrote a great script for Lunar Park and I hope he makes it" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  31. @BretEastonEllis (July 18, 2012). "Director/writer of "Lunar Park" is Roger Avary who has written a great, scary-as-hell script. He plans to shoot in September. Aaron Eckhart?" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  32. https://movieweb.com/ambush-director-mark-burman-interview/
  33. "'Pulp Fiction' screenwriter Avary arrested after fatal Ojai crash". Ventura County-Star. 13 January 2008. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013.
  34. Catherine Saillant (13 December 2008). "Screenwriter Roger Avary charged with gross vehicular manslaughter". Los Angeles Times.
  35. The Associated Press (21 August 2009). "Roger Avary pleads guilty to manslaughter". The Hollywood Reporter.
  36. "Avary Given Work Furlough at Ojai Valley News Blog". Ovnblog.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2012-10-27.
  37. "Screenwriter Roger Avary moved from work furlough program to jail after tweeting episode". Los Angeles Times. 27 November 2009. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013.
  38. 1 2 3 "Roger Avary: Rule Breaker". Independent.co.uk . March 14, 2003.
  39. "Interview with Roger Avary (Edge Online) - Silent Hill Memories". www.silenthillmemories.net. Retrieved 2024-02-02.