Marc Forster | |
|---|---|
 Forster in 2013 | |
| Born | (1969-11-30)30 November 1969 (age 55) |
| Nationality | German-Swiss |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1995–present |
Marc Forster (born 30 November 1969) is a German-Swiss filmmaker. He is best known for directing the feature filmsMonster's Ball,Finding Neverland,Stranger than Fiction,Quantum of Solace,World War Z, andChristopher Robin, and has directed numerous television commercials as well. He is aBAFTA,Golden Globe, andIndependent Spirit Award nominee.
Forster was born on 30 November 1969 in Au (todayIllertissen), in theNeu-Ulm district ofBavaria,West Germany. His parents, a German doctor and a Swiss architect, moved toSwitzerland when Forster was 9 years old. He spent his adolescence inDavos, a winter resort in eastern Switzerland, and at the international boarding school Institut Montana Zugerberg in central Switzerland.
In 1990, when he was 20 years old, Forster moved toNew York, in theUnited States. For the next three years, he attendedNew York University's film school, making several documentary films. In 1995, he moved toHollywood and shot an experimentallow-budget film for $10,000 calledLoungers, which won the Audience Award at theSlamdance Film Festival.[1] Forster's first feature-length motion picture was the psychological dramaEverything Put Together (2000), which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at theSundance Film Festival.[2]
His breakthrough film wasMonster's Ball (2001), in which he directedHalle Berry in herAcademy Award-winning performance as the wife of a man ondeath row. The film also starredBilly Bob Thornton,Heath Ledger,Peter Boyle, andSean Combs. His next film,Finding Neverland (2004), was based on the life of authorJ.M. Barrie. The film was nominated for fiveGolden Globe Awards and seven Academy Awards, including theBest Picture. Forster receivedBAFTA,Directors Guild of America, andGolden Globe nominations for his direction.
Forster's next film, thethrillerStay (2005) starredEwan McGregor andNaomi Watts and grossed $8 million (USD) in theUnited States on an estimated budget of $50 million.[3]Stranger than Fiction (2006), a surrealromantic comedy starringWill Ferrell, was a critical success.[4] The film grossed $54 million worldwide[5] and earned Will Ferrell a nomination for aGolden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
Forster then directed an adaptation of best-sellerKhaled Hosseini'sThe Kite Runner, scripted by repeat collaboratorDavid Benioff and starring British newcomerKhalid Abdalla. The film follows anAfghani-American man who returns to his war-ravaged country to save the son of his former best friend.The Kite Runner was released on 14 December 2007, and grossed $73 million worldwide.[6] It also earned a nomination for aGolden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and aBAFTA bid for Film Not In the English Language.
Additionally, Forster directed the 22ndJames Bond film,Quantum of Solace, which began shooting on 2 January 2008, shortly after his 38th birthday, making him the youngest director in the series' history (beating the previous record set byGuy Hamilton, who was 41 when he directedGoldfinger five years before Forster's birth).Quantum of Solace was released in the United Kingdom on 31 October 2008.[7][8] It became one of the highest grossing Bond films in the franchise's history, with a worldwide box office of more than $586 million.[9]
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Forster directed thefilm adaptation of the novelWorld War Z, starringBrad Pitt, which Paramount announced at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con.[10] The film opened 21 June 2013 to more than $66 million and has grossed more than $540 million worldwide. To date[when?], it is the highest-grossing film of Brad Pitt's career and is the most successfulZombie movie of all time.[11]
Forster directed his screenplay ofAll I See Is You, a visually driven drama following a blind woman (Blake Lively) and her husband (Jason Clarke) who, upon the restoration of her sight, begin to discover previously unseen and disturbing details about themselves and their marriage, released in 2016.
In November 2016,Walt Disney Pictures announced that Forster would direct the live-action film adaptation ofWinnie the Pooh, which was titledChristopher Robin. The film had its world premiere on 30 July 2018, and was theatrically released on 3 August 2018.[12] Forster along withWill Smith bought German rights group Telepool in June 2018.[13][14]
In October 2020,Mattel announced that Forster will be directing and producing alive-action animatedThomas & Friends film based on thefranchise of the same name.[15]
In January 2022, it was announced that Forster would reunite withFinding Neverland screenwriterDavid Magee and directA Man Called Otto, an English-language remake of the Swedish filmA Man Called Ove starringTom Hanks.[16] Filming began in February 2022 in Pittsburgh, whileSony Pictures acquired the worldwide distribution rights for $60 million at theEuropean Film Market, the highest-ever figure paid at the market for a film, for theatrical release in December 2022.[17][18] In July, Forster was announced the director of an adaptation of theNeil Gaiman fantasy novelThe Graveyard Book, forWalt Disney Pictures.[19]
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Loungers | Yes | No | Yes | Co-directed withSebastian Roché |
| 2000 | Everything Put Together | Yes | No | Yes | |
| 2001 | Monster's Ball | Yes | No | No | |
| 2004 | Finding Neverland | Yes | No | No | Cameo as "Costume Room Worker" |
| 2005 | Stay | Yes | No | No | |
| 2005 | Sueño | No | Yes | No | |
| 2006 | Stranger than Fiction | Yes | No | No | |
| 2007 | The Kite Runner | Yes | No | No | |
| 2008 | Quantum of Solace | Yes | No | No | |
| 2011 | Machine Gun Preacher | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2012 | Disconnect | No | Executive | No | |
| 2013 | World War Z | Yes | Executive | No | |
| 2016 | All I See Is You | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2018 | Christopher Robin | Yes | No | No | |
| 2018 | Come Sunday | No | Executive | No | |
| 2019 | My Dog Stupid | No | Executive | No | |
| 2022 | A Man Called Otto | Yes | Executive | No | |
| 2024 | White Bird | Yes | No | No |
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | LX Forty | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2017 | The Receipt: Lost & Found | Yes | No | No |
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–17 | Hand of God | Yes | Executive | 20 episodes (executive producer); 2 episodes (director) |
| Title | Notes |
|---|---|
| Everything Put Together | Independent Spirit Award forSomeone to Watch Award |
| Finding Neverland | Nominated-BAFTA Award for Best Direction Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Director Nominated-DGA forOutstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film Nominated-Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Director |
