Simon Kinberg

Simon Kinberg

Born Simon David Kinberg
(1973-08-02) August 2, 1973
London, England
Alma mater Brown University
Columbia University School of the Arts
Occupation Screenwriter, film producer
Spouse(s) Mali Heled (m. 2001)[1]
Children 2

Simon David Kinberg[1] (born August 2, 1973)[2] is an English-born American screenwriter and film producer. He is best known for his work in the X-Men film franchise, and wrote and/or produced several other box-office successes such as Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Sherlock Holmes, Cinderella, and The Martian, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. His production company is Genre Films (usually credited as Kinberg Genre), which has a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox.

Early life

Kinberg was born in London, England,[3] the son of Monica Menell-Kinberg and Jud Kinberg, a New York City-born writer and producer. His father's first wife was French actress Suzanne Dalbert.[4] From age six, he was raised in Los Angeles, California.[5] He is Jewish.[6] He has a brother, Robert, and a half-brother, Steven.[4] Simon Kinberg graduated from Brentwood High School,[2] and then from Brown University, Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude; in 2003 received his MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts, where he won the Zaki Gordon Fellowship for Screenwriting.[3][7]

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 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. 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.

Kinberg's next screenwriting job was the sequel to X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), which he co-wrote with Zak Penn. Comic-book writer Chris Claremont wrote the novelization of the film, and made Kinberg a character in the book.

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 is producing X-Men: Apocalypse, the next film in the X-Men franchise following X-Men: Days of Future Past. He is also producing an adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel Murder on the Orient Express, a remake of Logan's Run, and a live-action film of Magic: The Gathering.[9] In addition, Kinberg produced Deadpool (2016) and will produce the upcoming Gambit, both X-Men spin-off films.

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.[10] 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.[11]

Personal life

Kinberg married Mali Heled on July 26, 2001.[1] They have two sons.[5]

Filmography

Year Title Credited as Notes
Writer Producer
2005 XXX: State of the Union Yes No
Mr. & Mrs. Smith Yes No
Fantastic Four No No uncredited as writer[2][12]
2006 X-Men: The Last Stand Yes No co-wrote with Zak Penn
2008 Jumper Yes Yes
2009 Sherlock Holmes Yes No
2011 X-Men: First Class No Yes
2012 This Means War Yes Yes
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Yes Yes Executive producer
2013 Elysium No Yes
2014 Let's Be Cops No Yes
X-Men: Days of Future Past Yes Yes
Star Wars Rebels (TV series) Yes Yes Also executive producer
2015 Cinderella No Yes
Chappie No Yes
Fantastic Four Yes Yes
The Martian No Yes
Star Wars: The Force Awakens No No Consultant[13]
2016 Deadpool No Yes
X-Men: Apocalypse Yes Yes
TBA Gambit No Yes

References

  1. 1 2 3 "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 3 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. 1 2 Whitley, Sheri M. (May 16, 2005). "Taking a Meeting With Screenwriter Simon Kinberg". Archived from the original on December 17, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Jud Kinberg". PraBook.org. Archived from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  5. 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. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  6. ↑ "IGN Interviews Simon Kinberg". IGN.com. September 30, 2005. Archived from the original on October 5, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Simon Kinberg". Columbia University School of the Arts: Film. Archived from the original on December 4, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  8. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (April 14, 2010). "Simon Kinberg Signs First Look Fox Deal". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  9. ↑ Borys Kit (2014-01-13). "Fox to Bring 'Magic: The Gathering' to the Big Screen (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ Susman, Gary (October 1, 2004). "Fox moves ahead on X-Men 3". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Star Wars Is Being Kick-Started with Dynamite". StarWars.com. January 25, 2013. Archived from the original on January 10, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2014.

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