Peter Hyams

Infobox Actor
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name = Peter Hyams


imagesize = 225px
caption = Peter Hyams on the set of "The Musketeer" (2001)
birthdate = birth date and age|1943|07|26
location = New York City, New York, U.S.
deathdate =
deathplace =
spouse =
children =
occupation = Film director, screenwriter, cinematographer
yearsactive = 1974 — Present
academyawards =
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Peter Hyams (born July 26, 1943) is an American screenwriter, director and cinematographer, probably best known for directing the 1984 sci-fi adventure "2010" (the sequel to Stanley Kubrick's ""), "Capricorn One" and the comic book adaptation "Timecop".

Biography

Family

Hyams was born in New York City, New York, the son of Ruth Hurok and Darren Hyams, who was a theatrical producer and publicist on Broadway. His maternal grandfather was Sol Hurok, the Russian Jewish impresario. His stepfather was blacklisted Arthur Lief. His sister is casting director Nessa Hyamscite web
last = Ford
first = Luke
authorlink = Luke Ford
title = Director Peter Hyams
url = http://www.lukeford.net/profiles/profiles/peter_hyams.htm
accessdate = 2008-07-15 ] .

Career

Studied "Art" and "Music" at Hunter College and Syracuse University, before working as producer/anchorman for a Chicago TV station. He has described himself as "one of the very few writer/directors of major films who also photographs his own pictures". During his time with CBS (where he worked from 1964 to 1970), he began to shoot documentary films. Hyams moved to Los Angeles in 1970, selling his first screenplay to Paramount Pictures ("T.R. Baskin", 1971).

Hyams worked in television through the early to mid-1970s. His first major film was "Capricorn One" (1978), a critically-acclaimed conspiracy thriller about a faked mission to Mars. This was followed by the less successful "Hanover Street" (1979) which starred Harrison Ford, and the sci-fi cult classic "Outland" (1981), which starred Sean Connery in a 'High Noon' scenario set on Io, one of Jupiter's moons. In 1983, he produced, directed, and wrote the screenplay for "2010" (1984), collaborating closely with author Arthur C. Clarke ("").

Hyams also co-authored with Clarke "The Odyssey File: The Making of 2010", published 1985, a collection of their email correspondence which illustrates their fascination with the then pioneering medium and its use for them to communicate on an almost daily basis at the time of planning and production of the film.

Other notable films Hyams has directed/photographed include: "The Star Chamber" (1983), "Running Scared" (1986), "The Presidio" (1988), "Narrow Margin" (1990), "Stay Tuned" (1992), "Timecop" (1994), "The Relic" (1997), and "End of Days" (1999). In addition, Hyams also directed various episodes of Steven Spielberg's television show, "Amazing Stories", executive produced the 1980's cult kids movie, "The Monster Squad" (1986), and co-wrote the screenplay for the Charles Bronson thriller, "Telefon" (1977). Since the mid-1980s, Hyams has directed several Hollywood-based movies with varying degrees of commercial and critical success.

His two most recent films are "The Musketeer" (2001) and "A Sound of Thunder" (2005). "The Musketeer" (2001) was a minor box office success in the United States. But "A Sound of Thunder" (2005), which faced many troubles during its production (including the bankruptcy of the original production company during post-production [Cited in [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318081/trivia imdb.com.] ] ), performed particularly badly at the box office worldwide.

In 2007, it was reported that he would direct the remake of his own "Capricorn One" [http://www.filmjunk.com/2007/02/09/peter-hyams-to-remake-capricorn-one/ Peter Hyams To Remake Capricorn One] . Posted by "Sean" on 9 February 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2008.] Archived [http://web.archive.org/web/19960101-re_/http://www.moviehole.net/news/20070209_capricorn_two.html page] of [http://www.moviehole.net/news/20070209_capricorn_two.html Capricorn Two?] . Posted by "Clint Morris" on 9 February 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2008.] , instead he directed the remake of the 1956 film noir "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1183251/ Beyond a Reasonable Doubt] at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 16 July 2008.] starring Michael Douglas, which is slated to open in 2009.

Personal life

On December 19, 1964 he married George-Ann Spota, with whom he has three children [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001382/bio Peter Hyams biography] at at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 16 July 2008.] .

Trademark

Hyams is well known for acting as his own cinematographer on the movies he directs.

As a reference to his wife's family, there's a minor character named Spota in all his movies.

Filmography

Additionally he directed in 1972 the TV movies "Goodnight, My Love" and "Rolling Man".

Notes

*
* also screenwriter
* also director of photography

External links

*
* [http://www.lukeford.net/profiles/profiles/peter_hyams.htm Interview with Peter Hyams] by Luke Ford
* [http://www.the-numbers.com/people/directors/0PHYA.html Box Office Data] at [http://www.the-numbers.com/ The Numbers]