Bruce A. Evans

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Bruce Anslie Evans (born September 19, 1946) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known for his work on Stand by Me (1986), Jungle 2 Jungle (1997) and Mr. Brooks (2007).

Contents

Background

Evans was born in Long Beach, California, on September 19, 1946, and was educated at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles. [1]

Career

Evans's first writing credit was on the 1984 film Starman with his partner Raynold Gideon, with whom he first worked on 1979's A Man, a Woman, and a Bank starring Donald Sutherland. [2] Their second film, 1986's Stand by Me , which Evans also produced, was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature; his and Gideon's screenplay in particular was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium), the Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. [3] Evans and Gideon went on to write and produce the 1987 film Made in Heaven before writing Kuffs (1992), which Evans directed and Gideon produced. [4] The film, featuring Christian Slater, won the Special Jury Prize at the 1992 Festival du Film Policier de Cognac. The pair were given story credit for the 1995 film Cutthroat Island after performing a rewrite of "a completely different version" of the script. [5]

After writing 1997's Jungle 2 Jungle , a remake of the 1994 French film Un indien dans la ville , Evans and Gideon wrote "screenplays and rewrites and all of that kind of stuff" before their next credited film. [6] They struggled to have their subsequent scripts produced as each demanded too high a budget for most studios, including what they regarded as a "great World War I love story", until they wrote the 2007 film Mr. Brooks , starring Kevin Costner as the title character. [6] With the idea of a seemingly normal business man who leads a second life as a serial killer, they hoped to "make an adult film" and "change our image" as writers in the film industry. [6] They originally conceived the project as a television series, which they pitched to a number of television producers and studios in Hollywood. Their original version was considered "too soft", and their revised story, which was deemed "too dark", was written instead as a film spec script. [7] Fifteen years since Kuffs, Evans said that, with Mr. Brooks, directing again "was kind of like riding a bicycle". [5]

Around the time of the release of Mr. Brooks, Evans said that he planned to make two sequels, direct two original, unrelated scripts, and "a few [scripts] that are kind of on hold that I would direct that other people have written". [6] [4] In a 2020 interview, Evans said that there was "ninety-nine percent not a chance" the sequels would be made, but discussed the storylines that had been planned for them. [8]

Filmography

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducer
1979 A Man, a Woman, and a Bank NoYesNo
1984 Starman NoYesAssociate
1986 Stand by Me NoYesYes
1987 Made in Heaven NoYesYes
1992 Kuffs YesYesNo
1995 Assassins NoNoYes
Cutthroat Island NoYesNo
1997 Jungle 2 Jungle NoYesNo
2007 Mr. Brooks YesYesNo
Script and continuity department
YearFilmRoleNotes
1999 Any Given Sunday Script revisions
Uncredited
Miscellaneous crew
YearFilmRole
1989 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Production consultant

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References

  1. ↑ "Evans, Bruce A. 1946". Encyclopedia.com . Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  2. ↑ Callaghan, Dylan (2007). "No More Mr. Nice Guys". Writers Guild of America, west. Archived from the original on July 19, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Stand By Me (1986): Awards". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2012. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
  4. 1 2 Jacobs, Evan (October 22, 2007). "EXCLUSIVE: Bruce A. Evans Dissects Mr. Brooks". MovieWeb.com. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
  5. 1 2 Topel, Fred (May 27, 2007). "Writer/Director Bruce A Evans Talks About Mr Brooks". About.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Topel, Fred (June 13, 2007). "Bruce A Evans and Raynold Gideon Talk Mr. Brooks". CraveOnline.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
  7. ↑ Luce, Patrick (October 18, 2007). "M&C Interview: Director Bruce Evans talks Mr. Brooks". Monsters and Critics. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
  8. ↑ Jenkins, Jason (June 23, 2020). "Director Bruce A. Evans Details the Two 'Mr. Brooks' Sequels That Never Happened [Phantom Limbs]". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
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