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Simon Kinberg

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Simon Kinberg
Kinberg in 2017
Born
Simon David Kinberg

(1973-08-02) August 2, 1973 (age 51)
London, England
NationalityAmerican
Education
Occupations
  • Screenwriter
  • director
  • producer
Years active2000–present
OrganizationGenre Films
Spouse
Mali Heled
​
​
(m. 2001; div. 2017)​
PartnerCleo Wade (engaged)
Children4
FatherJud Kinberg

Simon David Kinberg[1] (born August 2, 1973)[2] is an American filmmaker. He wrote and produced a number of films in the X-Men film franchise for 20th Century Fox, and had produced a number of other projects for Fox, such as The Martian, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.

Kinberg made his directorial debut in the 2019 X-Men film Dark Phoenix from a script he also wrote.

Early life

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Kinberg was born in Hammersmith, London, England to American parents Monica Menell-Kinberg and Jud Kinberg, a New York City-born writer and producer.[3] From age six, he was raised in Los Angeles, California.[4] He is Jewish.[5][6] Kinberg graduated from Brentwood High School,[2] and then from Brown University, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude; in 2003 he received his MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts, where he won the Zaki Gordon Fellowship for Screenwriting.[7]

Career

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While still in film school, Kinberg sold a pitch to Warner Brothers, then went on to write scripts for Disney, Sony, and DreamWorks, working with Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer, among others. After finishing school, Kinberg moved to Hollywood, where his first screenwriting credit was a sequel to the hit action film XXX (2002), XXX: State of the Union (2005). His next screenwriting venture was the screenplay for Mr. & Mrs. Smith, directed by Doug Liman and starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The script began as Kinberg's thesis project for film school. Kinberg also wrote the pilot episode for a television adaptation of Mr. & Mrs. Smith for ABC TV. He also appears in the movie, in a scene with Brad Pitt.[citation needed]

Kinberg's next screenwriting job was the third movie in the 20th Century Fox X-Men film series: X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), which he co-wrote with Zak Penn. Comic-book writer Chris Claremont, who wrote the Dark Phoenix storyline that served as the primary source material for the film, also wrote the novelization of the film and made Kinberg a character in the book.[citation needed]

Kinberg reunited with director Doug Liman for the film Jumper (2008). Kinberg wrote and produced the movie, which stars Samuel L. Jackson, Hayden Christensen, and Diane Lane. The following year, Kinberg was writer of Sherlock Holmes, directed by Guy Ritchie, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. In April 2010, his production company, Genre Films, signed a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox.[8]

Kinberg was the producer of X-Men: First Class (2011), and both writer and producer of This Means War (2012). He was also co-screenwriter and an executive producer of the film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in that same year. In 2013, Kinberg produced Elysium.

The following year, Kinberg was the writer and the producer of the film X-Men: Days of Future Past. That same year, he produced Let's Be Cops. In 2015, Kinberg produced the Neill Blomkamp film Chappie and the live-action version of Cinderella at Disney. He also worked on Fantastic Four as writer and producer. His final film of the year was The Martian, directed by Ridley Scott.

He wrote and produced X-Men: Apocalypse, the next film in the X-Men franchise following X-Men: Days of Future Past. Kinberg produced 2016's Deadpool, 2017's Logan, 2018's Deadpool 2, 2019's Dark Phoenix (the latter of which also served as his directorial debut) and The New Mutants, all of which are X-Men spin-off films. He also produced Murder on the Orient Express, an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name.

The Hollywood Reporter initially reported that Lawrence Kasdan, writer of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and Kinberg would write and produce Episodes VIII and IX of the new Star Wars films.[9] A week later the publication stated that Kasdan and Kinberg would be working on future Star Wars projects, but not necessarily on Episodes VIII and IX.[10]

In television, he is an executive producer on ABC network's Designated Survivor starring Kiefer Sutherland, Legion created by Noah Hawley for FX, and The Gifted on Fox. He executive produced the third revival of the science fiction anthology series, The Twilight Zone which premiered in 2019.

In July 2019, it was announced that Kinberg and his production company Genre Films was leaving Fox after 20 years.[11]

On November 7, 2024, it was announced that Kinberg has been hired by Lucasfilm to write and co-produce a new trilogy of Star Wars films along with Kathleen Kennedy.[12][13]

Personal life

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Kinberg married Mali Heled in a Jewish ceremony on July 26, 2001.[1] They have two sons.[4] The couple separated in 2014 and were divorced in early 2017.[14] By November 4, 2019, Kinberg became engaged to writer Cleo Wade.[15] They have a daughter, born in 2020 and a second daughter in 2021.[16]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Writer Producer Director Notes
2005 XXX: State of the Union Yes No Lee Tamahori
Mr. & Mrs. Smith Yes No Doug Liman Role: Investment Banker #1
2006 X-Men: The Last Stand Yes No Brett Ratner
2008 Jumper Yes Yes Doug Liman
2009 Sherlock Holmes Yes No Guy Ritchie
2011 X-Men: First Class No Yes Matthew Vaughn
2012 Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter No Executive Timur Bekmambetov Was credited for screenplay, but later went uncredited
This Means War Yes Yes McG
2013 Elysium No Yes Neill Blomkamp
2014 X-Men: Days of Future Past Yes Yes Bryan Singer
Let's Be Cops No Yes Luke Greenfield
2015 Fantastic Four Yes Yes Josh Trank
Cinderella No Yes Kenneth Branagh
Chappie No Yes Neill Blomkamp
The Martian No Yes Ridley Scott
2016 Deadpool No Yes Tim Miller
X-Men: Apocalypse Yes Yes Bryan Singer
2017 Logan No Yes James Mangold
Murder on the Orient Express No Yes Kenneth Branagh
2018 Deadpool 2 No Yes David Leitch
2019 Dark Phoenix Yes Yes Himself Directorial debut
2020 The New Mutants No Yes Josh Boone
2022 Death on the Nile No Executive Kenneth Branagh
The 355 Yes Yes Himself
2023 A Haunting in Venice No Yes Kenneth Branagh
2024 Deadpool & Wolverine No Executive Shawn Levy
Lift No Yes F. Gary Gray
The Killer's Game Yes No J. J. Perry Early rewrites

Other film credits

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Year Title Role
2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Creative consultant
'Thanks' credit[17]
2016 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 'Thanks' credit

Television

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Year Title Director Writer Executive
producer 		Creator Notes
2014–2018 Star Wars Rebels No Yes Yes Yes
2016–2019 Designated Survivor No No Yes No
2017–2019 The Gifted No No Yes No Part of the X-Men film franchise
Legion No No Yes No
2019–2020 The Twilight Zone Yes Yes Yes Developer Directed "Blurryman" and wrote "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet"
2021 Invasion No Yes Yes Yes
2024 Sugar No No Yes No

Awards and nominations

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He received a lifetime achievement award from the Saturn Awards in 2016.

He was named #61 on the list of 100 most powerful people in Hollywood by The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. The same year, The Hollywood Reporter named Kinberg as the highest-paid screenwriter in Hollywood with a record US$16 million for two X-Men scripts, and named him as one of the highest-paid producers in Hollywood with US$40 million for Deadpool in their annual Hollywood Salaries issue.

Year Category Award Title Result
2015 Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy The Martian Won
Academy Awards Best Picture Nominated
Producers Guild of America Awards Best Picture Nominated
National Board of Review Best Film Nominated
Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Film Nominated
2016 Best Comedy Deadpool Won
Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Nominated
Producers Guild of America Awards Best Picture Nominated
2019 Golden Raspberry Award Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel Dark Phoenix Nominated

References

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  1. ^ a b "Weddings; Mali Heled, Simon Kinberg". The New York Times. July 29, 2001. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Lovece, Frank (January 26, 2016). "Everyone into the Deadpool: Producer Simon Kinberg helps revive Marvel's raunchy superhero". Film Journal International. Archived from the original on January 28, 2016.
  3. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Siegel, Tatiana (October 8, 2015). "'Martian' Producer Simon Kinberg on 'Fantastic Four' Woes, Jennifer Lawrence's Uncertain 'X-Men' Future and 'Star Wars' Secrets". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  5. ^ "IGN Interviews Simon Kinberg". IGN. September 30, 2005. Archived from the original on October 5, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  6. ^ Bloom, Nate (February 25, 2016). "The tribe at the Oscars, 2016". Jewish Standard. New Jersey. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020.
  7. ^ "Simon Kinberg". Columbia University School of the Arts: Film. Archived from the original on December 24, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  8. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (April 14, 2010). "Simon Kinberg Signs First Look Fox Deal". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  9. ^ Kit, Borys (November 20, 2012). "Sources: Lawrence Kasdan, Simon Kinberg Lock Deals to Write and Produce 'Star Wars' Installments". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 3, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  10. ^ Kit, Borys (November 28, 2012). "Star Wars: How Writers Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg Will Expand the Galaxy". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 5, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
  11. ^ "Underway On '355' At Uni With 'The War of the Worlds' Series For Apple, Simon Kinberg Ends Long Fox Run". Deadline Hollywood. July 9, 2019. Archived from the original on December 1, 2019.
  12. ^ Rubin, Rebecca. "New 'Star Wars' Trilogy in the Works From 'X-Men' Alum Simon Kinberg". Variety. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  13. ^ Kit, Borys. "'Star Wars': Simon Kinberg to Write, Produce New Trilogy for Lucasfilm". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  14. ^ "Mali Heled Kinberg vs Simon David Kinberg". Unicourt. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020. 06/13/2014 Declaration - UCCJEA (- On Behalf of: Petitioner: Kinberg, Mali); Filed by Petitioner. ... 02/22/2017 Abstract - of Judgment (- Issued on 2017-03-09)
  15. ^ Wade, Cleo (November 4, 2019). "On tour a lot of you asked if Simon and I got engaged bc of the ring I was wearing. We did". Cleo Wade verified Instagram account. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  16. ^ Wade, Cleo (January 24, 2020). "On Monday, @simondavidkinberg and I welcomed our daughter, Memphis Love Kinberg into the world". Cleo Wade verified Instagram account. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2020. Non-loginwalled link at bibliogram.pussthecat.org
  17. ^ "Star Wars Is Being Kick-Started with Dynamite". StarWars.com. January 25, 2013. Archived from the original on January 5, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
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