Doug Liman | |
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 Liman in 2014 | |
| Born | Douglas Eric Liman[1] (1965-07-24)July 24, 1965 (age 59) New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Brown University |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, producer |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Father | Arthur L. Liman |
| Relatives | Lewis J. Liman (brother) |
Douglas Eric Liman (/ˈlaɪmən/;[2] born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the filmsSwingers (1996),Go (1999),The Bourne Identity (2002),Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005),Jumper (2008),Edge of Tomorrow (2014),American Made (2017), andRoad House (2024).
Most of his career has been associated with the production company Hypnotic. He is co-owner withDave Bartis, whom he met as an undergraduate atBrown University where they co-founded Brown Television (BTV) and theNational Association of College Broadcasters (NACB).
Liman is on the advisory board of the Legal Action Center and the Arthur Liman Public Interest Program atYale Law School.
Liman, who is Jewish, was born in New York City, the son of Ellen (née Fogelson), a painter and writer, andArthur L. Liman, a lawyer.[3]
Liman began makingshort films while still injunior high school and studied atInternational Center of Photography in New York City. While attending Brown University, he helped to co-found the student-runcable television station BTV and served as its first station manager. He also co-founded the NACB, the first trade association geared to student-staffed radio and television stations, in 1988.[citation needed]
Liman attended the graduate program atUniversity of Southern California, where he was tapped to helm his first project in 1993, the comedy filmGetting In.[4]
Liman's first major success wasSwingers, released in 1996. The film, written byJon Favreau and based on Favreau's life, is a comedy about struggling actors amid theL.A. club milieu. Liman raised the funding and the film was made on the cheap, starring Favreau and his friends (Vince Vaughn,Ron Livingston, andPatrick Van Horn), ultimately cost $250,000. The film was a critical success, and jump-started the careers of Liman and the featured actors. Liman sold the film toMiramax for $5.5 million.[5]
Liman next directedGo (1999), which tracks the events of a drug deal gone wrong through three different points of view as plot lines diverge and reconverge; Liman was also the film'scinematographer. The film was a modest success, grossing $28.4 million worldwide against a $20 million budget, and garnered positive reviews from critics.
In 1999, Liman shot a commercial for Nike featuringTiger Woods.
Liman next directed the 2002 action thrillerThe Bourne Identity starringMatt Damon, an adaptation of the 1980Robert Ludlumnovel. The film was a box office success, earning over $200 million, and began aBourne film franchise that has since included four additional films. Liman directed only the firstBourne film, after a notoriously "chaotic" shoot disrupted his relationship with the studio.[6] As he had personally acquired the rights to the franchise from Ludlum, he served as anexecutive producer for three of the four sequels (2004'sThe Bourne Supremacy, 2007'sThe Bourne Ultimatum and 2016'sJason Bourne).
Liman executive-produced and directed the first two episodes ("Premiere" and "The Model Home") of the successful Fox prime time dramaThe O.C. (2003–2007). Liman produced and directed a series of comedy shorts for theChrysler Film Project andCannes Film Festival entitledIndie Is Great.
Liman also directedMr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), a comedic thriller about an increasingly distant married couple, both secretly assassins, who are hired to kill each other. The film was Liman's most commercially successful to date, and is well known for the off-screen romance that developed between starsBrad Pitt andAngelina Jolie after making the film.
In 2005, Liman signed on to direct thepilot episode ofNBC's television seriesHeist, which is about a season-long attempt to rob three jewelry stores onBeverly Hills' swankyRodeo Drive. Also that same year, the production company Hypnotic has struck a deal with NBC Universal Television Studio.[7] Shortly afterwards, he renamed the production company from Hypnotic to Dutch Oven.[8]
Hisfilm adaptation ofSteven Gould'sscience fiction novelJumper was released in 2008.[9]
In 2009, he co-founded the website30ninjas.com which is geared towards fans of action movies and television, gaming, extreme sports and viral videos. He also maintains a blog on the site.
Liman directed 2010'sFair Game, about thePlame affair, which competed for thePalme d'Or at the2010 Cannes Film Festival.[10]
In 2011, Liman directed and producedI Just Want My Pants Back, a television series that aired on MTV. He producedCovert Affairs andSuits, two original series on theUSA Network. He directed the film adaptation of theHiroshi Sakurazaka novel,All You Need is Kill, released asEdge of Tomorrow (2014), starringTom Cruise. In 2017, he directedAaron Taylor-Johnson andJohn Cena in the military thrillerThe Wall, and directed Cruise again, in the crime-action filmAmerican Made, a biopic of pilotBarry Seal.[11]
In August 2016, Liman signed on to directDark Universe, a film set within theDC Extended Universe and based on superhero teamJustice League Dark after leaving the adaptation ofGambit.[12] However, Liman has departed from the project due to schedule conflicts with the filmChaos Walking (2021), that Liman was working on that time.[13]
In January 2020, Liman announced that theEdge of Tomorrow sequel,Live Die Repeat and Repeat, was currently in its early planning stages.[14]
In May 2020, it was reported that Liman would be directing, writing, and producing a fictional movie shot inouter space.Tom Cruise was set to star and produce.[15] According to reports, they would fly to space and to theInternational Space Station as part of theSpaceX Axiom Space-2 mission.[16] As of 2022, no script had been finished and the film was described as "aspirational."[17][18]
In November 2021, it was reported that Liman was in talks to direct a remake of the 1989 filmRoad House, withJake Gyllenhaal starring.[19]The film was officially greenlit on August 2, 2022, byAmazon Studios, with Liman and Gyllenhaal's involvement confirmed, with production beginning later that month in theDominican Republic.[20][21] He later condemned Amazon's decision to release the film straight to streaming instead of a theatrical release and would boycott its SXSW premiere as a result.[22]
In December 2022, it was announced Liman would direct heist filmThe Instigators, starringMatt Damon andCasey Affleck, forApple Studios, marking Liman's first film with Damon sinceThe Bourne Identity.[23] The film was released in select theatres on August 2, 2024, before premiering onApple TV+ on August 9.[24]
In January 2023, the2023 Sundance Film Festival premiered Liman's documentaryJustice, about sexual misconduct charges against 2018 Supreme Court nomineeBrett Kavanaugh.[25][26]
In December 2024, Liman confirmed he was in early development of the supernatural thrillerDeeper forWarner Bros. Pictures, with Tom Cruise attached to star.[27]
Director
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | DoP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Getting In | Yes | No | No |
| 1996 | Swingers | Yes | No | Yes |
| 1999 | Go | Yes | No | Yes |
| 2002 | The Bourne Identity | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2005 | Mr. & Mrs. Smith | Yes | No | No |
| 2008 | Jumper | Yes | No | No |
| 2010 | Fair Game | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2014 | Edge of Tomorrow | Yes | Executive | No |
| 2017 | The Wall | Yes | No | No |
| American Made | Yes | No | No | |
| 2021 | Locked Down | Yes | Executive | No |
| Chaos Walking | Yes | No | No | |
| 2024 | Road House | Yes | No | No |
| The Instigators | Yes | No | No | |
| TBA | Everest | Yes | Yes | No |
Producer
Executive producer
| Year(s) | Title | Director | Executive Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–2004 | The O.C. | Yes | Yes | Episodes "Premiere" and "The Model Home" |
| 2006 | Heist | Yes | Yes | Episode "Pilot" |
| 2008–2009 | Knight Rider | No | Yes | |
| 2010–2014 | Covert Affairs | No | Yes | |
| 2011–2012 | I Just Want My Pants Back | Yes | Yes | Episodes "Pilot" and "The Blackout" |
| 2011–2019 | Suits | No | Yes | |
| 2016 | Captive | No | Yes | |
| 2018–2019 | Impulse | Yes | Yes | Episodes "Pilot" and "Mind on Fire" |
| 2019 | Pearson | No | Yes | |
| 2022 | The Recruit | Yes | Yes | Episodes "I.N.A.S.I.A.L." and "N.L.T.S.Y.P." |
TV movies
| Year(s) | Title | Director | Executive Producer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Mr. & Mrs. Smith | Yes | Yes |
| 2008 | Knight Rider | No | Yes |
| Year | Award | Nomination | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | MTV Movie & TV Awards | Best New Filmmaker | Swingers | Won |
| 1999 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Director | Go | Nominated |
| 2010 | Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | Fair Game | Nominated |
| 2014 | Saturn Awards | Best Director | Edge of Tomorrow | Nominated |
Doug Liman's unrealized projects
Space tourist missions | |
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| Past missions Flown tourists |
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| Scheduled | |
| Projected |
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| Cancelled missions / tourists |
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| Lists | |
