Shane Black

Shane Black
Born December 16, 1961
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Occupation Screenwriter, actor, film director
Years active 1987–current

Shane Black (born December 16, 1961)[1] is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. He wrote such late 1980s and early 1990s action movie hits as Lethal Weapon (1987) and made his directorial debut with the film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005). His acting credits include Predator (1987).

In 2013, he co-wrote and directed Iron Man 3, which currently ranks as the sixth highest grossing film of all time worldwide (unadjusted for inflation).[2]

Early life

Shane Black was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,[3] the son of Paul and Patricia Ann Black. His father was in the printing business.[1] After living in the suburbs of Lower Burrell and Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania, his family moved to Fullerton, California, during his sophomore year of high school.[3] There he attended Sunny Hills High School [4] and later attended UCLA where he majored in film and theater.

Career

Acting

Black's first acting role came in the film Predator, a film for which he also made uncredited contributions to the script. Since then, he has acted in a further five films and in one television episode for the TV series, Dark Justice.

Screenwriting

The majority of Black's career is in screenwriting. He sold his first screenplay, Lethal Weapon, released in 1987 for $250,000 and was paid $125,000 as a co-writer of Lethal Weapon 2, released in 1989. He received $1.75 million for his screenplay The Last Boy Scout, released in 1991, and $1 million for his rewrite of Last Action Hero released in 1993.[5]

Black used the pseudonyms Harry Lime and Holly Martins, the names of two leading characters in the film The Third Man, for certain projects.

Directing

Black made his directorial debut with 2005's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and later directed (and co-wrote with Drew Pearce) 2013's Iron Man 3, which currently ranks as the sixth highest grossing film of all time worldwide (unadjusted for inflation).[2] Black's next projects are the American version of Death Note, based on the manga series[6][7] and Doc Savage.[7][8][9]

In June 2014, it was announced that Black would direct a murder conspiracy thriller titled The Nice Guys, with Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling starring and Joel Silver producing.[10] Warner Bros would handle the North American rights to the film.[11] Film will be released on June 17, 2016.[12]

Later in the same month, it was also announced that Black would write and direct the next film in the Predator series.[13][14]

He is up to direct The Destroyer, based on the 1985 film Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, starring Fred Ward.

Style

Black has a recognizable writing style where he often adds comments (referred to as "Shane Blackisms") [15] and jokes about the story situations into the scene directions of the script. He also sometimes directs comments at studio executives and certain script readers. Examples of these include:

From Lethal Weapon:

“ EXT. POSH BEVERLY HILLS HOME - TWILIGHT

The kind of house that I'll buy if this movie is a huge hit. Chrome. Glass. Carved wood. Plus an outdoor solarium: A glass structure, like a greenhouse only there's a big swimming pool inside. This is a really great place to have sex.[16]

 ”

From The Last Boy Scout:

“ Remember Jimmy's friend, Henry, who we met briefly near the opening of the film? Of course you do, you're a highly-paid reader or development person. ”

He has used kidnapping as a plot device in several films: Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and Iron Man 3.

Black gave a list of techniques he uses when writing films in an interview with The Guardian.[17]

Black also used a Christmas theme in Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and Iron Man 3.

Awards and honors

Black received the Distinguished Screenwriter Award from the Austin Film Festival October 21, 2006. In 2005, he received the Best Original Screenplay award for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' from the San Diego Film Critics Association.

Filmography

Year Title Functioned as Notes
Director Writer Role
1986 Night of the Creeps No No Cop in Police Station Uncredited
1987 Lethal Weapon No Yes
Predator No No Hawkins Also uncredited writer
The Monster Squad No Yes
1988 Dead Heat No No Patrolman
1989 Lethal Weapon 2 No Yes
1991 The Last Boy Scout No Yes Also executive producer
Dark Justice (TV series) No No Caldecott Rush Episode "Nowhere to Hide"
1993 RoboCop 3 No No Donnelly
Last Action Hero No Yes
1994 Night Realm No No Role
1996 The Long Kiss Goodnight No Yes Also producer
1997 As Good as It Gets No No Brian, Cafe 24 manager
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn No No Himself Cameo
2002 The Boy Scout (short film) No No Henchman #2
2005 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Yes Yes
2006 A.W.O.L. (short) No Yes Credited as Holly Martins
Also executive producer as Harry Lime
2007 Monkeys No No Role
2013 Iron Man 3 Yes Yes
Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter (short)[18] No No Disembodied Voice Voice only
2016 The Nice Guys[19] Yes Yes
TBA The Destroyer[20] Yes Yes
TBA Doc Savage[21] Yes Yes
TBA Untitled Predator Sequel[22] Yes Yes

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Shane Black Biography (1961-)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "All Time Worldwide Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Vancheri, Barbara (June 8, 2012). "Film Notes: A local connection to 'Iron Man 3'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on November 16, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  4. ↑ Winters, Laura. "Shane Black, Coming Back With a 'Bang': 'Lethal Weapon' Writer Rearms With Sendup", Washington Post, 6 November 2005, retrieved June 29, 2007.
  5. ↑ "Taylor, Thom". The Big Deal: Hollywood's Million-Dollar Spec Script Market. Harper Perennial. 1999.
  6. ↑ "Warner Bros Taps Shane Black For Japanese Manga 'Death Note'". Deadline.com. 2011-01-13. Retrieved 2011-01-14.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Shane Black On His Death Note And Doc Savage Movies
  8. ↑ Siegel, Tatiana (February 22, 2010). "Columbia revives Doc Savage". Variety. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
  9. ↑ 'Iron Man 3' Director Shane Black to Direct 'Doc Savage' for Sony
  10. ↑ "Ryan Gosling & Russell Crowe May Be 'Nice Guys' for Shane Black". firstshowing.net. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  11. ↑ "Warner Bros In ‘Nice Guys’ Talks With Shane Black, Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling". deadline.com.
  12. ↑ "Russell Crowe-Ryan Gosling Pic ‘The Nice Guys’ Gets Summer 2016 Release Date". deadline.com.
  13. ↑ Kit, Borys (June 23, 2014). "Fox Rebooting 'Predator' With Shane Black (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  14. ↑ Chitwood, Adam (June 25, 2014). "Exclusive: Shane Black Says His PREDATOR Film Is a Sequel, Not a Reboot". Collider. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  15. ↑ "WordPlay: Column 23". Terry Rossio, 1997. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  16. ↑ "Lethal Weapon, script". The Daily Script. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  17. ↑ Delaney, Sam (May 22, 2009). "Crash, bang, wallop what a picture". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2009-05-23.
  18. ↑ Fletcher, Rosie (July 19, 2013). "Marvel's Agent Carter reaction: Comic-Con 2013". TotalFilm. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
  19. ↑ Borys Kit (10 July 2014). "Warner Bros. Picks Up Shane Black's 'Nice Guys' With Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  20. ↑ Erik Hayden (21 August 2014). "Shane Black to Direct 'The Destroyer' for Sony". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  21. ↑ Borys Kit (7 May 2013). "'Iron Man 3' Director Refocuses on 'Doc Savage'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  22. ↑ Borys Kit (24 June 2014). "Fox Rebooting 'Predator' With Shane Black (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 August 2014.

External links