Simon Kinberg

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Simon Kinberg
Simon Kinberg Press Conference Logan Berlinale 2017 (cropped).jpg
Kinberg in 2017
Born
Simon David Kinberg

(1973-08-02) August 2, 1973 (age 48)
NationalityAmerican
EducationBrown University (BA)
Columbia University (MFA)
OccupationScreenwriter, director, producer
Years active2000–present
Spouse(s)
Mali Heled
(m. 2001; div. 2017)
Partner(s)Cleo Wade
Children3

Simon David Kinberg[1] (born August 2, 1973)[2] is a British-born American filmmaker. He is best known for his work on the X-Men film franchise, and has also written such films as Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Sherlock Holmes. He has served as a producer on others including Cinderella and The Martian, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. His production company Genre Films had a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox. Kinberg made his directorial debut in the 2019 X-Men film Dark Phoenix from a script he also wrote.

Early life[]

Kinberg was born in London, England to American parents Monica Menell-Kinberg and Jud Kinberg, a New York City-born writer and producer. From age six, he was raised in Los Angeles, California.[3] He is Jewish.[4][5] 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.[6] 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 (2005). 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.[citation needed]

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, who wrote the Dark Phoenix storyline that served as the primary source material for the film, also wrote the novelization of the film, and made Kinberg a character in the book.[citation needed]

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.[7]

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 produced X-Men: Apocalypse, the next film in the X-Men franchise following X-Men: Days of Future Past. Kinberg produced 2016's Deadpool, 2017's Logan, 2018's Deadpool 2, 2019's Dark Phoenix (the latter of which also served as his directorial debut) and The New Mutants, all of which are X-Men spin-off films. He also produced Murder on the Orient Express, an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name.

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.[8] 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.[9]

In television, he is an executive producer on ABC network's Designated Survivor starring Kiefer Sutherland, Legion created by Noah Hawley for FX, and The Gifted on Fox. He executive produced the third revival of the science fiction anthology series, The Twilight Zone which premiered on 2019.

In July 2019, it was announced that Kinberg and his production company Genre Films is leaving Fox after 20 years.[10]

Personal life[]

Kinberg married Mali Heled in a Jewish ceremony on July 26, 2001.[1] They have two sons.[3] The couple separated in 2014 and were divorced in early 2017.[11] By November 4, 2019, Kinberg became engaged to writer Cleo Wade.[12] They have a daughter, Memphis Love Kinberg, born January 20, 2020.[13]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year Title Credited as Director Notes
Writer Producer
2005 xXx: State of the Union Yes No Lee Tamahori
Mr. & Mrs. Smith Yes No Doug Liman Role: Investment Banker #1
2006 X-Men: The Last Stand Yes No Brett Ratner
2008 Jumper Yes Yes Doug Liman
2009 Sherlock Holmes Yes No Guy Ritchie
2011 X-Men: First Class No Yes Matthew Vaughn
2012 This Means War Yes Yes McG
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter No Executive Timur Bekmambetov
2013 Elysium No Yes Neill Blomkamp
2014 X-Men: Days of Future Past Yes Yes Bryan Singer
Let's Be Cops No Yes Luke Greenfield
2015 Fantastic Four Yes Yes Josh Trank
Cinderella No Yes Kenneth Branagh
Chappie No Yes Neill Blomkamp
The Martian No Yes Ridley Scott Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Nominated- Academy Award for Best Picture
Nominated- Producers Guild of America Award for Best Picture
Nominated- National Board of Review Award for Best Film
Nominated- Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Film
2016 Deadpool No Yes Tim Miller Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Comedy
Nominated- Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Nominated- Producers Guild of America Award for Best Picture
X-Men: Apocalypse Yes Yes Bryan Singer
2017 Logan No Yes James Mangold
Murder on the Orient Express No Yes Kenneth Branagh
2018 Deadpool 2 No Yes David Leitch
2019 Dark Phoenix Yes Yes Himself Directorial debut;
Nominated- Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel
2020 The New Mutants No Yes Josh Boone
2022 The 355 Yes Yes Himself Post-production
Death on the Nile No Yes Kenneth Branagh

Other credits

Year Title Role
2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Creative consultant
'Thanks' credit[14]
2016 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 'Thanks' credit

Television[]

Year Title Credited as Notes
Director Writer Executive
producer
Creator
2014–2018 Star Wars Rebels No Yes Yes Yes
2016–2019 Designated Survivor No No Yes No
2017–2019 The Gifted No No Yes No Part of the X-Men film franchise
Legion No No Yes No
2019–2020 The Twilight Zone Yes Yes Yes Developer Directed "Blurryman" and wrote "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet"
TBA Invasion Yes Yes Yes Yes

Awards[]

He received a lifetime achievement award from the Saturn Awards in 2016.

He was named #61 on the list of 100 most powerful people in Hollywood by The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. The same year, The Hollywood Reporter named Kinberg as the highest-paid screenwriter in Hollywood with a record US$16 million for two X-Men scripts, and named him as one of the highest paid producers in Hollywood with US$40 million for Deadpool in their annual Hollywood Salaries issue.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "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. ^ Jump up to: a b 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. ^ Jump up to: a b 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. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  4. ^ "IGN Interviews Simon Kinberg". IGN. September 30, 2005. Archived from the original on October 5, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  5. ^ Bloom, Nate (February 25, 2016). "The tribe at the Oscars, 2016". Jewish Standard. New Jersey. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020.
  6. ^ "Simon Kinberg". Columbia University School of the Arts: Film. Archived from the original on December 24, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  7. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (April 14, 2010). "Simon Kinberg Signs First Look Fox Deal". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ "Underway On '355' At Uni With 'The War Of The Worlds' Series For Apple, Simon Kinberg Ends Long Fox Run". Deadline Hollywood. 2019-07-09. Archived from the original on December 1, 2019.
  11. ^ "Mali Heled Kinberg vs Simon David Kinberg". Unicourt. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020. 06/13/2014 Declaration - UCCJEA (- On Behalf of: Petitioner: Kinberg, Mali); Filed by Petitioner. ... 02/22/2017 Abstract - of Judgment (- Issued on 2017-03-09)
  12. ^ Wade, Cleo (November 4, 2019). "On tour a lot of you asked if Simon and I got engaged bc of the ring I was wearing. We did". Cleo Wade verified Instagram account. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  13. ^ Wade, Cleo (January 24, 2020). "On Monday, @simondavidkinberg and I welcomed our daughter, Memphis Love Kinberg into the world". Cleo Wade verified Instagram account. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  14. ^ "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.

External links[]

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