Steve Kloves | |
|---|---|
| Born | Stephen Keith Kloves (1960-03-18)March 18, 1960 (age 65) Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1984–present |
| Notable work | The Fabulous Baker Boys Harry Potter Wonder Boys |
Stephen Keith Kloves[1] (born March 18, 1960) is an American screenwriter, director and producer. He wrote and directed the filmThe Fabulous Baker Boys and is mainly known for his screenplay adaptations of novels, especially for all but one of theHarry Potter films (the exception beingThe Order of the Phoenix) and forWonder Boys, for which he was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Kloves, born inAustin, Texas, grew up inSunnyvale, California,[2] where he graduated fromFremont High School. He attended theUniversity of California, Los Angeles but dropped out when he was not admitted into thefilm school in his third year.[2]
As an unpaidintern for a Hollywood agent, he gained attention for a screenplay he wrote calledSwings. This led to a meeting where he successfully pitchedRacing with the Moon (1984).[2]
His first experience with professional screenwriting left him wanting more interaction with the actors so that the characters would stay true to his vision.[2] Kloves wroteThe Fabulous Baker Boys and also intended it to be his directorial debut. After years of trying to sell the project in Hollywood, the film finally got off the ground and was released in 1989.[2]The Fabulous Baker Boys did reasonably well and was critically acclaimed, but his next shot as writer/director forFlesh and Bone in 1993 fared poorly at the box office. Kloves then stopped writing for three years.[2]
Realizing that he had to return to writing to support his family, he began adaptingMichael Chabon's novelWonder Boys into a screenplay.[2] Kloves was offered the chance to direct but he declined, preferring to direct only his own original work.[2] This was his first try at adapting another work to film.[2] His screenplay was nominated for aGolden Globe and anAcademy Award after the film's release in 2000.
Warner Bros. sent Kloves a list of novels that the company was considering to adapt as films. The listing included thefirstHarry Potter novel, which intrigued him despite his usual indifference to these catalogs.[2] He went on to write the screenplays for the first four films in the series. However, he turned down writing the fifth film, stating that "The fourth film,Goblet of Fire, was really hard to do. I wrote on it for two years. But it’s not that simple and I don't know that I'll ever fully understand why I didn't do it."[3] AfterMichael Goldenberg wrote the screenplay for the fifth film, Kloves then returned to write the sixth, seventh and eighth installments.
In 2011, Kloves was attached to work on a film adaptation ofMark Haddon's novelThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Since 2016, Kloves produced theFantastic Beasts films, a spinoff prequel series to the mainHarry Potter series. Kloves co-wrote the third installment withJ.K. Rowling.[4]
Kloves produced theAndy Serkis-directed movie,Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. His daughter, Callie, wrote the screenplay.[5]
Kloves is now set to write the screenplay for the film adaptation ofT. J. Newman's novelDrowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 forWarner Bros.[6]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Racing with the Moon | No | Yes | No |
| 1989 | The Fabulous Baker Boys | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1993 | Flesh and Bone | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2000 | Wonder Boys | No | Yes | No |
| 2001 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone | No | Yes | No |
| 2002 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | No | Yes | No |
| 2004 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | No | Yes | No |
| 2005 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | No | Yes | No |
| 2009 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | No | Yes | No |
| 2010 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 | No | Yes | No |
| 2011 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 | No | Yes | No |
| 2012 | The Amazing Spider-Man | No | Yes | No |
| 2016 | Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | No | No | Yes |
| 2018 | Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald | No | No | Yes |
| Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle | No | No | Yes | |
| 2022 | Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore | No | Yes | Yes |
Special thanks
