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John Logan | |
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 Logan in 2009 | |
| Born | John David Logan (1961-09-24)September 24, 1961 (age 63) |
| Education | Northwestern University |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1985–present |
John David Logan (born September 24, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and producer. He is known for his work as a screenwriter for such films asRidley Scott'sGladiator (2000),Martin Scorsese'sThe Aviator (2004) andHugo (2011),Tim Burton'sSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) andSam Mendes'James Bond filmsSkyfall (2012), andSpectre (2015). He has been nominated three times forAcademy Awards, and has won aTony Award and aGolden Globe Award.
Logan's parents immigrated to the United States from Northern Ireland via Canada. The youngest of three children, he has an older brother and sister. Logan grew up in California andMillburn, New Jersey, where he graduated fromMillburn High School in 1979.[1]
He moved toChicago to attendNorthwestern University, where he graduated in 1983.[2]
Logan was a successful playwright in Chicago for many years before turning to screenwriting. His first play,Never the Sinner, tells the story of the infamousLeopold and Loeb case. Subsequent plays includeHauptmann, about theLindbergh baby kidnapping, andRiverview, a musical melodrama set at Chicago'sfamed amusement park.
His playRed, about artistMark Rothko, was produced by theDonmar Warehouse, London, in December 2009,[3] and onBroadway in 2010, where it received sixTony Awards, the most of any play, including best play, best direction of a play forMichael Grandage and best featured actor in a play forEddie Redmayne. Redmayne andAlfred Molina had originated their roles in London and also performed on Broadway, for a limited run ending in late June.[4]
Two plays by Logan premiered in 2013;Peter and Alice, directed by Michael Grandage and starringJudi Dench andBen Whishaw opened in London at theNoël Coward Theatre on March 25, 2013, andI'll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers, directed byJoe Mantello and starringBette Midler, opened on Broadway at theBooth Theatre on April 24, 2013.[5]
A re-written version ofNever the Sinner had its world premiere in 2004 at theSpace Theatre inAdelaide, Australia, byIndependent Theatre.[6] The company had previously staged the play twice, in 1992 and 1994,[7] and has also staged several of his other plays.[8]
Superhero, a new musical by Logan andTom Kitt, had its world premiere production Off-Broadway atSecond Stage Theater, with an official opening night on February 28, 2019.[9]
Logan's playDouble Feature, about filmmaking and the relationship between director and star, opened at theHampstead Theatre, London, in February 2024.[10]
Logan wrote the 1999Oliver Stone sports dramaAny Given Sunday, which "changed his life".[6] He then wrote the television filmRKO 281, a historical drama released in the same year.
Logan's feature films includeRango (2011), an animated feature starringJohnny Depp and directed byGore Verbinski; the film adaptation of Shakespeare'sCoriolanus, directed by and starringRalph Fiennes;Hugo, an adaptation of the bookThe Invention of Hugo Cabret, directed byMartin Scorsese; and theJames Bond filmSkyfall, along withNeal Purvis and Robert Wade. He wrote the Bond film,Spectre (2015).
He also created the 2014 television seriesPenny Dreadful starringJosh Hartnett,Eva Green andTimothy Dalton, for which he served as sole writer until it concluded with its third season.
In November 2015, Logan was reported to have rewritten the script forAlien: Covenant.[11][12] During the audio commentary ofAlien: Covenant, Scott mentions that Logan has already started writingAlien: Covenant 2.[13] In November 2018, it was announced that Showtime would produce a follow-up to the 2014 television seriesPenny Dreadful entitledPenny Dreadful: City of Angels, which takes place in Los Angeles in 1938. Logan was the creator, executive producer, and sole writer for the show, which premiered in 2020.
In November 2019, it was reported thatBohemian Rhapsody producerGraham King was planning to produce aMichael Jackson biopic, with the screenplay written by Logan.[14]
Other notable films written by Logan includeStar Trek: Nemesis,The Time Machine, andThe Last Samurai.
Logan made his feature directorial debut in 2022 withThey/Them, aslasher film released via the streaming servicePeacock.[15]
Logan is openly gay.[16]
As of January 2022[update] he is a major benefactor of a small independenttheatre company inAdelaide,South Australia, run by Rob Croser, calledIndependent Theatre.[6] Several of his plays have been produced there, includingNever the Sinner (1992, 1994, 2004);Hauptmann (1993);The View from Golgotha (1996);Red (2011; about artistMark Rothko);Peter and Alice (2014),[8] and he has travelled to Adelaide several times to see his plays as well as work on other productions.[6]
Logan's plays include:[17]
| Year | Title | Writer | Producer | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Bats | Yes | Executive | Louis Morneau |
| Any Given Sunday | Yes | No | Oliver Stone | |
| 2000 | Gladiator | Yes | No | Ridley Scott |
| 2002 | The Time Machine | Yes | Co-producer | Simon Wells |
| Star Trek: Nemesis | Yes | No | Stuart Baird | |
| 2003 | Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas | Yes | No | Tim Johnson Patrick Gilmore |
| The Last Samurai | Yes | No | Edward Zwick | |
| 2004 | The Aviator | Yes | No | Martin Scorsese |
| 2007 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Yes | Yes | Tim Burton |
| 2011 | Rango | Yes | No | Gore Verbinski |
| Coriolanus | Yes | Yes | Ralph Fiennes | |
| Hugo | Yes | No | Martin Scorsese | |
| 2012 | Skyfall | Yes | No | Sam Mendes |
| 2014 | Jamie Marks Is Dead | No | Executive | Carter Smith |
| 2015 | Spectre | Yes | No | Sam Mendes |
| 2016 | Genius | Yes | Yes | Michael Grandage |
| 2017 | Alien: Covenant | Yes | No | Ridley Scott |
| 2022 | They/Them | Yes | No | Himself |
| 2025 | Michael | Yes | No | Antoine Fuqua |
| Year | Title | Creator | Writer | Executive Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Tornado! | No | Yes | No | TV movie |
| 1999 | RKO 281 | No | Yes | No | |
| 2014–2016 | Penny Dreadful | Yes | Yes | Yes | Executive producer (27 episodes); writer (24 episodes) |
| 2020 | Penny Dreadful: City of Angels | Yes | Yes | Yes | Executive producer (10 episodes); writer (6 episodes) |
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