Mike Newell | |
|---|---|
 Newell atWonderCon 2010 | |
| Born | Michael Cormac Newell (1942-03-28)28 March 1942 (age 83) St Albans,Hertfordshire, England |
| Alma mater | Magdalene College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
| Years active | 1963–present |
| Notable work | Four Weddings and a Funeral Donnie Brasco Pushing Tin Mona Lisa Smile Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Great Expectations |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | BAFTA Award for Best Direction Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) |
Michael Cormac Newell (born 28 March 1942) is an English film and television director and producer. He won theBAFTA for Best Direction forFour Weddings and a Funeral (1994), which also won theBAFTA Award for Best Film, and directed the filmsDonnie Brasco (1997) andHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005).[1]
Newell was born inSt Albans,Hertfordshire, as the son of amateur actors,[2] and was educated atSt Albans School. He read English atMagdalene College, Cambridge.[3][4] He then attended a three-year training course atGranada Television with the intention of entering the theatre.
Newell directed various British TV shows from the 1960s onwards (such asSpindoe, credited as Cormac Newell, andBig Breadwinner Hog), but eventually shifted his focus to film direction.
His first feature-length project wasThe Man in the Iron Mask (1977), a made-for-television film. His first critically acclaimed movie wasBad Blood (1981), concerning the 1941 manhunt for the New Zealand mass-killerStan Graham played byJack Thompson. This was followed byDance with a Stranger (1985), a biographical drama starringMiranda Richardson asRuth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the UK. For his directorial efforts, Newell won the Award of the Youth at the 1985Cannes Film Festival.
Newell continued his successes in the film industry withEnchanted April (1991), an adaptation of the 1922 novel byElizabeth von Arnim.Miranda Richardson won theGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical andJoan Plowright won theGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.
During this period,George Lucas recruited Newell as one of the numerous feature film directors to direct episodes ofThe Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
The comedyFour Weddings and a Funeral (1994) was also critically acclaimed, winning numerous awards, including aCésar Award (Best Foreign Film), a Golden Globe (Best Actor –Hugh Grant), and a number ofLondon Critics Circle Film Awards (Best Director, Film, Producer, and Screenwriter).
Since these award-winning productions, Newell has directed a number of films in Hollywood, such asDonnie Brasco (1997) (starringAl Pacino andJohnny Depp),Pushing Tin (1999) (starringJohn Cusack,Billy Bob Thornton,Cate Blanchett, andAngelina Jolie) andMona Lisa Smile (2003) (starringJulia Roberts,Kirsten Dunst, andJulia Stiles).
In 2005, Newell was presented with an honorary degree ofDoctor of Arts by theUniversity of Hertfordshire which has a campus in St Albans, his birthplace. He was also awarded theBAFTA Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing for his career prior to 2005.[5] Newell became the first British director of theHarry Potter film series with the production ofHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth adaptation in the series, which became a major critical and financial success worldwide. Newell is heard briefly as the radio announcer at the beginning of the film.
Newell directedLove in the Time of Cholera in 2007 andPrince of Persia: The Sands of Time in 2010. In February 2011, Newell attended theBritish Academy Film Awards along withHarry Potter authorJ.K. Rowling,David Heyman,David Barron,David Yates,Alfonso Cuarón,Rupert Grint, andEmma Watson to collect theMichael Balcon Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema on behalf of theHarry Potter film series.[6]
Continuing to work on adaptations, Newell directedGreat Expectations (2012) from the novel byCharles Dickens withRalph Fiennes,Helena Bonham Carter, andJeremy Irvine in starring roles.[7][8][9][10][11] The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.[12]
On Christmas Day in 2016, Newell appeared as a contestant on a special episode of the BBC'sUniversity Challenge, representing hisalma mater,Magdalene College, Cambridge.[4]
Director
| Executive producer
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TV series
Executive producer
| TV movies
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| Year | Title and description | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1990s | Old Friends, a film written byMark Andrus about a curmudgeon who forms a family with a waitress and a gay artist | [13][14] |
| Phenomenon | [15][16] | |
| High Fidelity | [16][14] | |
| A film adaptation ofA. S. Byatt's novelPossession written byDon Macpherson | [16] | |
| A film adaptation ofPeter Guralnick's novelLast Train to Memphis starringLeonardo DiCaprio asElvis Presley | [17][14] | |
| Best Laid Plans | [18][14] | |
| An untitledblack comedy written by Bob Comfort | [14] | |
| A remake of the 1960 filmThe Grass Is Greener | [19] | |
| Shanghai | [20] | |
| 2000s | How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days starringGwyneth Paltrow | [21] |
| The Poetess, a film written byWill Davies about a romance between a femalepoet and aCambridgedon | [22] | |
| The Girl with the Pearl Earring starringKate Hudson andRalph Fiennes | [23][24][25] | |
| Runaway Jury starringWill Smith | [26] | |
| A film adaptation ofEsther Vilar's novelThe Seven Fires of Mademoiselle written byRandi Mayem Singer | [27] | |
| Jo, an unairedTV pilot about a mother and daughter who run aveterinary hospital starringAndie MacDowell | [28][29][30] | |
| An untitledWestern written byJohn Milius set in post-revolutionMexico | [31][32][33] | |
| Mrs. Darwin, a "period romance" written by Tim Rose Price aboutEmma Darwin's relationship with her husbandCharles | [32] | |
| Alibi Club | [34] | |
| A film adaptation ofLen Deighton's novelBomber written by Leigh Jackson | [35] | |
| The Constant Gardener | [36] | |
| An untitled one-hour TV pilot forABC andTouchstone Television | [29] | |
| A film adaptation ofJohn Masefield's novelThe Box of Delights written byFrank Cottrell-Boyce | [37][38] | |
| The Lone Ranger | [39] | |
| 2010s | A film adaptation ofAlan Cowell's novelThe Terminal Spy co-written withDavid Scarpa | [40][41] |
| A film adaptation ofBen Macintyre's novelAgent Zigzag written byMark Bomback andRowan Joffé | [41][42] | |
| A film adaptation ofCharles Dickens' novelDombey and Son | [41][38] | |
| An untitledfantasy film aboutOdysseus' journey back fromTroy | [43] | |
| A film adaptation ofSeth Grahame-Smith's novelPride and Prejudice and Zombies | [44] | |
| A film adaptation ofIan McEwan's novellaOn Chesil Beach | [45][38] | |
| Reykjavík, ahistorical drama about theReykjavík Summit written byKevin Hood starringMichael Douglas andChristoph Waltz | [46][47][48] | |
| A film adaptation ofJohn Wyndham's novelThe Day of the Triffids written byNeil Cross | [49] | |
| The Comedian | [50] | |
| The One and Only Ivan | [51] | |
| 2020s | A film adaptation ofHenry James' novelThe Ambassadors written byJanet Dulin Jones | [52][53] |
| Gramercy Park, a TV series written byJanet Dulin Jones starringMillie Brady,Brian Cox,Gabriel Byrne andMira Sorvino | [54][55][56][57] | |
| A film adaptation ofRumer Godden's novelChina Court written by Brian Kinsey | [58] |
Her original TV seriesGramercy Park is in partnership with directors: Mike Newell andScott Winant, Producers Brenda Friend and Consulting ProducerMartin Sherman. [...] Janet and Mike Newell are prepping,The Ambassadors, her adaptation of the Henry James novel with producersPhilippe Carcassonne andDavid Parfitt and Cleone Clark.
| Preceded by | Harry Potter film director 2005 | Succeeded by |
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