Simon Kinberg

Simon Kinberg is a Jewish-American screenwriter. He was born August 2, 1973 in London, England, and his family moved later on to the United States. Kinberg graduated from Brown University, Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude, and received his MFA from Columbia University Film School.

Early career

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, Jerry Bruckheimer, McG, and others. After finishing school, Kinberg moved to Hollywood, where his first screenwriting credit was a sequel to the smash hit action film "xXx" (2002), "". The film was a disappointment, but his next screenwriting venture was the screenplay for:

"Mr and Mrs Smith"

Doug Liman's 2005 film "Mr. & Mrs. Smith", starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The script began as Kinberg's thesis project for film school. It went on to gross over $475 million worldwide. It won MTV Movie Awards and People's Choice Awards. Kinberg also wrote the pilot episode for a television adaptation of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" for ABC TV.

"X-Men: The Last Stand"

Kinberg's next screenwriting job was the highly anticipated sequel to "X-Men" (2000) and "X2" (2003), "" (2006), which he co-wrote with Zak Penn. The film made $123 million on its opening weekend, one of the biggest openings in history. It went on to gross over $460 million worldwide, making it the most successful film in the franchise. Famous comic-book writer Chris Claremont wrote the novelization of the film, and he made Kinberg a character in the book.

"Jumper"

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 film opened number one at the box office on Presidents Day 2008, and made more than 225 million dollars worldwide. The film spawned a comic book and videogame.

Other Projects

Kinberg was an uncredited script doctor for "" (2003) and "Fantastic Four" (2005). He worked on "Fantastic Four" throughout production in Vancouver, Canada.

Future projects

Kinberg was a writer on "", scheduled for a 2009 release, starring Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams and all the actors from the first film. His other reported projects include the script for Shawn Levy's "The Hardy Men", an adaptation of the Hardy Boys starring Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller. He is also currently writing an original script for Nicole Kidman, based on an idea they created together and sold to Twentieth Century Fox. And he is adapting Robert Ludlum's novel "The Osterman Weekend" which he will produce and direct. He also recently rewrote Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes", which will star Robert Downey Jr. as the world-famous detective, to be released by Warner Brothers in 2010.

In addition to his writing, he is producing a number of films, including "Rip the Moon" at Dreamworks, directed by Doug Liman starring Jake Gyllenhaal, and an untitled "X-Men" spinoff movie at 20th Century Fox. In television, he he has a blind script deal with Jerry Bruckheimer and Warner Brothers.

Awards and honors

In 2005, Simon received the "Movieline Magazine" award for Screenwriter of the Year, and was named New Power Screenwriter of the Year by "Premiere Magazine". Kinberg's films have grossed over a billion dollars worldwide.

TV appearances

Kinberg was featured in "The Dialogue" interview series. In this 90 minute interview with producer Mike DeLuca, Kinberg reveals his inspiration—from breakdancing movies to mentor Akiva Goldsman, and what you do and don’t learn at film school.

External links

* [http://www.thedialogueseries.com/bio_simonkinberg.shtml The Dialogue: Learn from the Masters Interview]
*imdb name|id=1334526|name=Simon Kinberg