Charles Leavitt

For American landscape architect and civil engineer, see Charles Wellford Leavitt.
Charles Leavitt
Born Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Occupation Screenwriter
Nationality American
Notable works Blood Diamond
The Express

Charles Leavitt is an American screenwriter best known for writing the 2006 film Blood Diamond.

Life and career

After writing the 1996 film Sunchaser, the 1998 film The Mighty and the 2001 film K-PAX, Leavitt was hired by Warner Bros. in February 2004 to rewrite an early draft of the film Blood Diamond, then titled Okavango.[1] The story had been stuck in "development hell" at the studio for years before producers Paula Weinstein and Gillian Gorfil finally decided on the story of an African farmer caught up in the conflict between an American smuggler and the local diamond mining organization.[1] Leavitt researched the diamond industry to great lengths before he began writing the screenplay, explaining that he has "always been a stickler for immersing [himself] in research".[2] He wrote the film with the assumption that it would offend the diamond industry, particularly De Beers, and so made sure to portray the industry truthfully, aware that he could potentially be sued by De Beers and other powerful mining corporations.[2] Paula Weinstein was impressed by Leavitt's Blood Diamond draft, but hired writers Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz to rewrite the script again; by the time he had completed the script, Zwick had become so interested in the story that he agreed to direct the film as well.[3]

Leavitt was signed by Warner Bros. in October 2006 to adapt Vanity Fair editor Doug Stumpf's novel Confessions of a Wall Street Shoeshine Boy, which the studio had acquired the rights to in mid-2005.[4] He has also since rewritten Scott Williams' original draft of The Express, a biographical film about American football player Ernie Davis.[5] He has written the screenplay In the Heart of the Sea for Intermedia and Spring Creek, and has written Animal Kingdom on spec.[1] He re-wrote the 2015 film Seventh Son and the 2016 film Warcraft.[6]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Dunkley, Cathy (24 February 2004). "WB leaving 'Okavango' to Leavitt". Variety. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Faye, Denis (2006). "Diamond Scribe". Writers Guild of America, west. Retrieved 2014-11-01.
  3. ↑ Brodesser, Claude (28 June 2005). "WB polishes 'Diamond'". Variety. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
  4. ↑ McClintock, Pamela (24 October 2006). "Leavitt buffs up 'Shoeshine'". Variety. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
  5. ↑ Fleming, Michael (6 December 2006). "Quaid takes an 'Express'". Variety. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
  6. ↑ Kit, Borys (30 January 2013). "'Warcraft' Movie Lands 'Source Code' Director". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2013-01-31.

External links