Simon Kinberg

Last updated

Simon Kinberg
Simon Kinberg Press Conference Logan Berlinale 2017 (cropped).jpg
Kinberg in 2017
Born
Simon David Kinberg

(1973-08-02) August 2, 1973 (age 50)
Hammersmith, London, England, UK
NationalityAmerican
Education Brown University (BA)
Columbia University (MFA)
Occupations
  • Screenwriter
  • director
  • producer
Years active2000–present
Spouse
Mali Heled
​
​
(m. 2001;div. 2017)​
Partner Cleo Wade (engaged)
Children4

Simon David Kinberg [1] (born August 2, 1973) [2] is a British-born American filmmaker. He wrote or produced a number of films in the 20th Century Fox X-Men film franchise, and has also written such films as Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Sherlock Holmes . He has served as a producer on others including Cinderella and The Martian , the latter which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. His production company Genre Films had a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox. Kinberg made his directorial debut in the 2019 X-Men film Dark Phoenix from a script he also wrote.

Contents

Early life

Kinberg was born in Hammersmith, London, England to American parents Monica Menell-Kinberg and Jud Kinberg, a New York City-born writer and producer. [3] From age six, he was raised in Los Angeles, California. [4] He is Jewish. [5] [6] Kinberg graduated from Brentwood High School, [2] and then from Brown University, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude; in 2003 he received his MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts, where he won the Zaki Gordon Fellowship for Screenwriting. [7]

Career

Film and television

While still in film school, Kinberg sold a pitch to Warner Brothers, then went on to write scripts for Disney, Sony, and DreamWorks, working with Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer, among others. After finishing school, Kinberg moved to Hollywood, where his first screenwriting credit was a sequel to the hit action film XXX (2002), XXX: State of the Union (2005). His next screenwriting venture was the screenplay for Mr. & Mrs. Smith , directed by Doug Liman and starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The script began as Kinberg's thesis project for film school. Kinberg also wrote the pilot episode for a television adaptation of Mr. & Mrs. Smith for ABC TV. He also appears in the movie, in a scene with Brad Pitt.[ citation needed ]

Kinberg's next screenwriting job was the third movie in the 20th Century Fox X-Men film series: X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), which he co-wrote with Zak Penn. Comic-book writer Chris Claremont, who wrote the Dark Phoenix storyline that served as the primary source material for the film, also wrote the novelization of the film and made Kinberg a character in the book.[ citation needed ]

Kinberg reunited with director Doug Liman for the film Jumper (2008). Kinberg wrote and produced the movie, which stars Samuel L. Jackson, Hayden Christensen, and Diane Lane. The following year, Kinberg was writer of Sherlock Holmes , directed by Guy Ritchie, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. In April 2010, his production company, Genre Films, signed a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox. [8]

Kinberg was the producer of X-Men: First Class (2011), and both writer and producer of This Means War (2012). He was also co-screenwriter and an executive producer of the film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in that same year. In 2013, Kinberg produced Elysium .

The following year, Kinberg was the writer and the producer of the film X-Men: Days of Future Past . That same year, he produced Let's Be Cops . In 2015, Kinberg produced the Neill Blomkamp film Chappie and the live-action version of Cinderella at Disney. He also worked on Fantastic Four as writer and producer. His final film of the year was The Martian , directed by Ridley Scott.

He wrote and produced X-Men: Apocalypse , the next film in the X-Men franchise following X-Men: Days of Future Past . Kinberg produced 2016's Deadpool , 2017's Logan , 2018's Deadpool 2 , 2019's Dark Phoenix (the latter of which also served as his directorial debut) and The New Mutants , all of which are X-Men spin-off films. He also produced Murder on the Orient Express , an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name.

The Hollywood Reporter initially reported that Lawrence Kasdan, writer of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi , and Kinberg would write and produce Episodes VIII and IX of the new Star Wars films. [9] A week later the publication stated that Kasdan and Kinberg would be working on future Star Wars projects, but not necessarily on Episodes VIII and IX. [10]

In television, he is an executive producer on ABC network's Designated Survivor starring Kiefer Sutherland, Legion created by Noah Hawley for FX, and The Gifted on Fox. He executive produced the third revival of the science fiction anthology series, The Twilight Zone which premiered in 2019.

In July 2019, it was announced that Kinberg and his production company Genre Films is leaving Fox after 20 years. [11]

Personal life

Kinberg married Mali Heled in a Jewish ceremony on July 26, 2001. [1] They have two sons. [4] The couple separated in 2014 and were divorced in early 2017. [12] By November 4, 2019, Kinberg became engaged to writer Cleo Wade. [13] They have a daughter, born in 2020 and a second daughter in 2021. [14]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleWriterProducerDirectorNotes
2005 XXX: State of the Union YesNo Lee Tamahori
Mr. & Mrs. Smith YesNo Doug Liman Role: Investment Banker #1
2006 X-Men: The Last Stand YesNo Brett Ratner
2008 Jumper YesYesDoug Liman
2009 Sherlock Holmes YesNo Guy Ritchie
2011 X-Men: First Class NoYes Matthew Vaughn
2012 This Means War YesYes McG
2013 Elysium NoYes Neill Blomkamp
2014 X-Men: Days of Future Past YesYes Bryan Singer
Let's Be Cops NoYes Luke Greenfield
2015 Fantastic Four YesYes Josh Trank
Cinderella NoYes Kenneth Branagh
Chappie NoYesNeill Blomkamp
The Martian NoYes Ridley Scott
2016 Deadpool NoYes Tim Miller
X-Men: Apocalypse YesYesBryan Singer
2017 Logan NoYes James Mangold
Murder on the Orient Express NoYesKenneth Branagh
2018 Deadpool 2 NoYes David Leitch
2019 Dark Phoenix YesYesHimself Directorial debut
2020 The New Mutants NoYes Josh Boone
2022 The 355 YesYesHimself
2023 A Haunting in Venice NoYesKenneth Branagh
2024 Lift NoYes F. Gary Gray
The Killer's Game RewritesNo J. J. Perry Post-production

Executive producer

Other credits

YearTitleRole
2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Creative consultant
'Thanks' credit [15]
2016 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 'Thanks' credit

Television

YearTitleDirectorWriterExecutive
producer		CreatorNotes
2014–2018 Star Wars Rebels NoYesYesYes
2016–2019 Designated Survivor NoNoYesNo
2017–2019 The Gifted NoNoYesNoPart of the X-Men film franchise
Legion NoNoYesNo
2019–2020 The Twilight Zone YesYesYesDeveloperDirected "Blurryman" and wrote "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet"
2021 Invasion NoYesYesYes
2024 Sugar NoNoYesNo

Awards

He received a lifetime achievement award from the Saturn Awards in 2016.

He was named #61 on the list of 100 most powerful people in Hollywood by The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. The same year, The Hollywood Reporter named Kinberg as the highest-paid screenwriter in Hollywood with a record US$16 million for two X-Men scripts, and named him as one of the highest-paid producers in Hollywood with US$40 million for Deadpool in their annual Hollywood Salaries issue.

YearTitleAwardCategoryResult
2015 Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy The Martian Won
Academy Awards Best Picture Nominated
Producers Guild of America Awards Best Picture Nominated
National Board of Review Best Film Nominated
Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Film Nominated
2016 Best Comedy Deadpool Won
Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Nominated
Producers Guild of America Award Best Picture Nominated
2019 Golden Raspberry Award Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel Dark Phoenix Nominated

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References

  1. 1 2 "Weddings; Mali Heled, Simon Kinberg". The New York Times . July 29, 2001. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Lovece, Frank (January 26, 2016). "Everyone into the Deadpool: Producer Simon Kinberg helps revive Marvel's raunchy superhero". Film Journal International . Archived from the original on January 28, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Siegel, Tatiana (October 8, 2015). "'Martian' Producer Simon Kinberg on 'Fantastic Four' Woes, Jennifer Lawrence's Uncertain 'X-Men' Future and 'Star Wars' Secrets". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  5. ↑ "IGN Interviews Simon Kinberg". IGN. September 30, 2005. Archived from the original on October 5, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  6. ↑ Bloom, Nate (February 25, 2016). "The tribe at the Oscars, 2016". Jewish Standard . New Jersey. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Simon Kinberg". Columbia University School of the Arts: Film. Archived from the original on December 24, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  8. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (April 14, 2010). "Simon Kinberg Signs First Look Fox Deal". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  9. ↑ Kit, Borys (November 20, 2012). "Sources: Lawrence Kasdan, Simon Kinberg Lock Deals to Write and Produce 'Star Wars' Installments". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 3, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  10. ↑ Kit, Borys (November 28, 2012). "Star Wars: How Writers Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg Will Expand the Galaxy". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 5, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Underway On '355' At Uni With 'The War of the Worlds' Series For Apple, Simon Kinberg Ends Long Fox Run". Deadline Hollywood. July 9, 2019. Archived from the original on December 1, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Mali Heled Kinberg vs Simon David Kinberg". Unicourt. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020. 06/13/2014 Declaration - UCCJEA (- On Behalf of: Petitioner: Kinberg, Mali); Filed by Petitioner. ... 02/22/2017 Abstract - of Judgment (- Issued on 2017-03-09)
  13. ↑ Wade, Cleo (November 4, 2019). "On tour a lot of you asked if Simon and I got engaged bc of the ring I was wearing. We did". Cleo Wade verified Instagram account. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  14. ↑ Wade, Cleo (January 24, 2020). "On Monday, @simondavidkinberg and I welcomed our daughter, Memphis Love Kinberg into the world". Cleo Wade verified Instagram account. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2020. Non-loginwalled link at bibliogram.pussthecat.org
  15. ↑ "Star Wars Is Being Kick-Started with Dynamite". StarWars.com. January 25, 2013. Archived from the original on January 5, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
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