Neal H. Moritz

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Neal H. Moritz
Neal Moritz by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Moritz at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con
Born (1959-06-06) June 6, 1959 (age 62)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.[1]
Alma materUSC School of Cinematic Arts
OccupationFilm producer
Spouse(s)Sarah Trimble Moritz

Neal H. Moritz (born June 6, 1959) is an American film producer and former executive at Sony Pictures, and currently an executive at Paramount Pictures. He is the founder of independent production studio Original Film and most known for I Know What You Did Last Summer, I Am Legend, and the Fast & Furious franchise, and the television shows Prison Break and The Big C. His films have earned more than $5 billion as of 2012.[2]

Life[]

Neal H. Moritz was born in Los Angeles, California, to Milton Moritz and Barbara (née Levin). His paternal grandfather, Joseph Moritz, owned movie theaters in Pittsburgh and was an early investor in American International Pictures (AIP). Milton Moritz was born in Pittsburgh and moved to California after falling ill with rheumatic fever at age eight, when his doctor suggested the family move to a better climate. He was head of marketing at AIP and was later CEO and president of the National Association of Theatre Owners of California/Nevada. Moritz is from a Jewish family.[3][4][5][6]

Moritz grew up in Westwood and graduated from UCLA, where he participated in a Semester at Sea program. When he came back, he gave away several backpacks that were popular with Chinese students. He had so many requests for the backpacks that he and a friend began a company importing purses and bags from Taiwan. He sold the company to an investor, and returned to school.[4] He earned a master's degree from the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television in 1985. He is a member of the school's Alumni Development Council.[7] As of April 2017, Moritz has been married for 15 years and has two children, aged 17 and 14.[4]

Career[]

One of his earliest movies was Juice with Tupac Shakur.[4] Moritz has more than 70 films to his credit, including I Know What You Did Last Summer, the first two films of the Urban Legend franchise, Cruel Intentions, The Skulls, the Fast & Furious franchise, Not Another Teen Movie, the first two films of the XXX, film series, S.W.A.T., Evan Almighty, I Am Legend, Made of Honor, Total Recall and the Jump Street films.

Moritz is also credited for Prison Break, and he produced Cabin by the Lake, its sequel Return to Cabin by the Lake and The Glass House. In December 2011, Moritz announced plans to produce a reboot of the Starship Troopers film franchise; this reboot is said to be more faithful to the source material than the previous films, which feature little in common with the original novel apart from the general setting and character names.[8][9]

In September 2017, Moritz and Original Film signed a first-look deal for Paramount Pictures that began on January 1, 2019, leaving his longtime home, Sony Pictures, after over 20 years.[10] However, he still maintains his overall deal at Sony Pictures Television.[11] A month later, the rights for the Sonic the Hedgehog film were transferred from Sony to Paramount after the former company put the film in turnaround, leaving most of the original staff intact.[12]

In October 2018, Moritz filed a lawsuit against Universal Pictures for breach of oral contract and committing promissory fraud after the distributor removed him as lead producer on Hobbs & Shaw. In May 2019, it was revealed that Universal had dropped Moritz from any future Fast & Furious installments.[13] Despite this, he received producer credit for the 2021 film F9.[14] His lawsuit was settled in September 2020.[15]

Filmography[]

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film[]

Sony Pictures[]

Year Title Director Notes
1997 I Know What You Did Last Summer Jim Gillespie Under Columbia Pictures
1998 I Still Know What You Did Last Summer Danny Cannon
Urban Legend Jamie Blanks Under TriStar Pictures
1999 Cruel Intentions Roger Kumble Under Columbia Pictures
Blue Streak Les Mayfield
2000 Urban Legends: Final Cut John Ottman 2000 Mission Impossible 2 John Woo

under Paramount Pictures

2001 Saving Silverman Dennis Dugan
The Glass House Daniel Sackheim
Not Another Teen Movie Joel Gallen
2002 Slackers Dewey Nicks Under Screen Gems
XXX Rob Cohen Under Columbia Pictures
2003 S.W.A.T. Clark Johnson
2005 XXX: State of the Union Lee Tamahori
Stealth Rob Cohen
2006 Click Frank Coraci
Gridiron Gang Phil Joanou
2008 Vantage Point Pete Travis
Made of Honor Paul Weiland Quantum of Solace Marc Forster
Prom Night Nelson McCormick Under Screen Gems
2010 The Bounty Hunter Andy Tennant Under Columbia Pictures
2011 The Green Hornet Michel Gondry
Battle: Los Angeles Jonathan Liebesman
2012 21 Jump Street Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Total Recall Len Wiseman
2014 22 Jump Street Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
2015 Goosebumps Rob Letterman Under Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation
2016 Passengers Morten Tyldum Under Columbia Pictures
2018 Slender Man Sylvain White Under Screen Gems
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween Ari Sandel Under Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation
2019 Escape Room Adam Robitel Under Columbia Pictures
2020 Bloodshot David S. F. Wilson
2021 Escape Room: Tournament of Champions Adam Robitel

NBCUniversal[]

Year Title Director Notes
2000 The Skulls Rob Cohen Under Universal Pictures
2001 The Fast and the Furious
2003 2 Fast 2 Furious John Singleton
2006 The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Justin Lin
2007 Evan Almighty Tom Shadyac
2009 Fast & Furious Justin Lin
2011 Fast Five
The Change-Up David Dobkin
2013 Fast & Furious 6 Justin Lin
R.I.P.D. Robert Schwentke
2014 Search Party Scot Armstrong Under Focus World
2015 Furious 7 James Wan Under Universal Pictures
2017 The Fate of the Furious F. Gary Gray
2021 F9 Justin Lin

Lionsgate[]

Year Title Director Notes
1994 The Stoned Age James Melkonian Under Trimark Pictures
1999 Held Up Steve Rash
2001 Soul Survivors Stephen Carpenter Under Artisan Entertainment
2011 The Music Never Stopped Jim Kohlberg Under Lionsgate Films and Roadside Attractions
2018 Hunter Killer Donovan Marsh Under Lionsgate Films and Summit Premiere

The Walt Disney Studios[]

Year Title Director Notes
1997 Volcano Mick Jackson Under 20th Century Fox
2002 Sweet Home Alabama Andy Tennant Under Touchstone Pictures
2019 The Art of Racing in the Rain Simon Curtis Under 20th Century Fox

WarnerMedia[]

Year Title Director Notes
2004 Torque Joseph Kahn Under Warner Bros.
2007 I Am Legend Francis Lawrence
2013 Jack the Giant Slayer Bryan Singer Under Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema

ViacomCBS[]

Year Title Director Notes
1992 Juice Ernest R. Dickerson Under Paramount Pictures
2020 Sonic the Hedgehog Jeff Fowler
2022 Sonic the Hedgehog 2
TBA Untitled Face/Off Sequel Adam Wingard

Other studios[]

Year Film Studio Notes
2003 Out of Time MGM Distribution Co.
2013 Dead Man Down FilmDistrict
2020 Spenser Confidential Netflix
TBA Shadow Run Solstice Studios In Development[16]

Direct-to-video[]

As an actor[]

Year Film Role
2001 The Fast and the Furious Ferrari Driver
2003 2 Fast 2 Furious Swerving Cop
S.W.A.T. Luxury Car Driver

Thanks[]

  • My Trip to the Dark Side (2011)

Television[]

All works, he was executive producer unless otherwise noted.

TV Movies[]

TV Pilots[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Neal H Moritz, Born 06/06/1959 in California". CaliforniaBirthIndex.org.
  2. ^ Fernandez, Jay A. (March 9, 2012). "'21 Jump Street' Producer Neal H. Moritz Talks Tips for Surviving on Set". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  3. ^ Shollar, Masha (August 3, 2016). "Native son recalls hand in 'Golden Age' of B movies". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "'B.S. Pod': The History of the 'Fast & Furious' Franchise With Neal Moritz". The Ringer. April 11, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  5. ^ "Neal Moritz, a producer with his finger on the pulse of the populace". Los Angeles Times. March 14, 2011. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  6. ^ Goldstein, Patrick (March 9, 1999). "Moritz Makes His 'Intentionsxxx' Clear". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  7. ^ "Alumni Development Council" (PDF). In Motion. USC: 2. Fall 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  8. ^ "A New Invasion: 'Starship Troopers' Headed for a Remake". Archived from the original on December 4, 2011. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  9. ^ "'Starship Troopers' Reboot Officially In The Works". Screen Rant. December 2, 2011. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  10. ^ McNary, Dave (September 6, 2017). "Neal Moritz Signs First-Look Deal With Paramount". Variety. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  11. ^ Galuppo, Mia (September 6, 2017). "Neal Moritz Moves First-Look Deal to Paramount". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  12. ^ McNary, Dave (October 2, 2017). "'Sonic the Hedgehog' Movie Lands at Paramount". Variety. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  13. ^ Holmes, Adam (May 9, 2019). "The Fast And Furious Franchise Has Fired Its Longtime Producer". Cinema Blend. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  14. ^ "The Fast Saga website". Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  15. ^ Patten, Dominic (September 10, 2020). "Universal & 'Fast & Furious' Producer Neal Moritz Settle 'Hobbs & Shaw' Legal Drag Race". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  16. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (June 30, 2020). "Solstice Studios & Original Film Team For Action Thriller 'Shadow Run'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.

External links[]

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