Bill Condon

William Condon (born October 22, 1955) is an American director and screenwriter. Condon is known for writing and/or directing numerous successful and acclaimed films including Gods and Monsters, Chicago, Kinsey, Dreamgirls, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2. He has received two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; Gods and Monsters and Chicago, winning for the former.

This article is about the director and screenwriter. For the Australian footballer, see Bill Condon (footballer).

Bill Condon
Born
William Condon

(1955-10-22) October 22, 1955
New York City, New York, United States
OccupationFilm director, screenwriter
Years active1981–present
Notable work
Gods and Monsters
Chicago
Kinsey
Dreamgirls
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
Partner(s)Jack Morrissey
AwardsAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Gods and Monsters (1998)

Early life

Condon was born in New York City on October 22, 1955,[1] the son of a police detective,[2] and was raised in an Irish Catholic family.[3][4] He attended Regis High School and Columbia College of Columbia University, graduating in 1976 with a degree in philosophy.[3]

At the age of twelve, Condon found himself drawn to screenplay writing with his first viewing of Bonnie and Clyde:

Part of the pleasure of it was a completely instinctual thing that drew me into the world of writing about movies. Suddenly it became all of your senses—your mind was engaged by it. The most pleasurable thing was that you felt as if you were part of the movement and part of that fun.[5]

In college he saw Sweet Charity (1969) starring Shirley MacLaine. He later described its impact:

Sweet Charity was probably the first movie musical I saw on the screen … It was Bob Fosse's first movie, and the sense of wonder of somebody that gifted discovering a new medium is just intoxicating.… For me, Sweet Charity started a lifelong love affair with movies that are reviled and rejected in their time, which it was.[3]

After completing college, Condon worked as a journalist for film magazines, including American Film and Millimeter. Circa 1981, he won "the world's most difficult film trivia quiz" sponsored by the Village Voice.[6]

Career

His career as a filmmaker began with screenplays for the independent feature Strange Behavior (1981), an homage to the pulp horror films of the 1950s,[7] and the science-fiction feature Strange Invaders (1983), which starred Nancy Allen and Wallace Shawn. It depicted present-day encounters with extraterrestrials who have been living in Illinois since 1958, when they entered into a secret pact with the Eisenhower administration.[8] His directorial debut was Sister, Sister (1987), an eerie Southern Gothic mystery starring Eric Stoltz and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Test screenings led to major changes to the film, which still proved a critical failure that set back Condon's career.[9]

Condon emerged a few years later directing a series of made-for-TV thrillers, including Murder 101 (1991), which starred Pierce Brosnan and earned Condon and co-writer Roy Johansen a 1992 Edgar Award for their screenplay.[10] During this period he also wrote the screenplay for the thriller F/X2 (1991), which was directed by Australian director Richard Franklin.[11]

In 1994, he directed the television movie The Man Who Wouldn't Die, which starred Roger Moore and Nancy Allen. ABC chose it to air during sweeps week, but reviews were mixed.[12] He directed Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995), a sequel to Bernard Rose's 1992 horror film. It was a critical and commercial failure.[13] Reminded years later of this phase of his career, Condon said: "It's hard to be lower on the totem pole than being the director for a sequel to a horror movie."[3]

Condon wrote and directed Gods and Monsters (1998). He based his screenplay on a novel by Christopher Bram. His screenplay won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The New York Times said Condon "may have been the most stunned person at the Academy Awards when his name was announced as the winner for the best adapted screenplay. He has struggled for years in Hollywood as a screenwriter and journalist and is unaccustomed to the hoopla that is now around him."[14] He was nominated for the same award for his screenplay for Chicago, based on the Broadway musical of the same name.[15] He received a second Edgar Award for his Chicago screenplay as well.[16]

In 2004 he wrote and directed the film Kinsey, chronicling the life of the controversial sex researcher Alfred Kinsey. In The New York Times, A.O. Scott wrote that "Bill Condon's smart, stirring [film] has a lot to say on the subject of sex, which it treats with sobriety, sensitivity and a welcome measure of humor." He continued: "I can't think of another movie that has dealt with sex so knowledgeably and, at the same time, made the pursuit of knowledge seem so sexy. There are some explicit images and provocative scenes, but it is your intellect that is most likely to be aroused.... Mr. Condon's great achievement is to turn Kinsey's complicated and controversial career into a grand intellectual drama."[17]

In 2005, he received the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the GLAAD Media Awards.[18]

Condon wrote the screenplay for and directed Dreamgirls, an adaptation of the acclaimed Broadway musical of the same name based on the career of the musical group The Supremes. It was released in December 2006. Condon received Directors Guild of America and Broadcast Film Critics Association nominations for directing. The film was nominated in eight Academy Awards in six categories, but not for best film, directing, or screenplay.[19]

Condon was executive producer of the 81st Academy Awards television broadcast that aired on February 22, 2009, working with producer Laurence Mark.[20]

Condon directed both parts of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (2011 and 2012), adapted from the fourth and final novel in The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. He was twice nominated for a Razzie for Worst Director for these films, winning for Part 2.[21]

Condon directed The Fifth Estate (2013), a thriller about WikiLeaks starring Benedict Cumberbatch. He said he chose the project for a change of pace and liked its non-ideological approach to a very complex subject. He saw it "in the great tradition of journalistic thrillers".[22] It failed with critics and at the box office. Condon said he was shocked by the complete lack of public interest and questioned the public appeal of its principal subject, Julian Assange. He said: "I do think there's something about him that does not suggest an evening's entertainment."[23]

In late 2013, he directed a revised version of the 1997 stage musical Side Show at the La Jolla Playhouse. A production of this revision played in June and July 2014 at the Kennedy Center. Charles Isherwood described it in The New York Times as "a full-scale reimagining" of the musical that involved "the addition and subtraction of several songs ..., the reordering of others", and new dialogue contributed by Condon.[24] That production received excellent reviews when it moved to Broadway in the fall, but it proved a failure at the box office and closed after just seven weeks.[25]

In 2015, Condon directed Mr. Holmes starring Ian McKellen. Condon noted its similarity to Gods and Monsters, not only because of its lead actor but because "[b]oth movies are about aging and mortality. You have a celebrated man facing the decline of his public image."[26]

Condon directed the 2017 Disney live action film adaptation of the animated 1991 film Beauty and the Beast.[27] A few weeks before the film's scheduled release on March 17, 2017, Condon announced that one character, LeFou, has "a nice, exclusively gay moment", which resulted in an "internet meltdown" of contrasting support and condemnation.[28]

He co-authored the screenplay for The Greatest Showman, a biography of P.T. Barnum, starring Hugh Jackman and released in December 2017. He rewrote the draft of co-author Jenny Bicks.[29]

Condon is set to direct a remake of Bride of Frankenstein for Universal Pictures starring Javier Bardem as Frankenstein's Monster, scheduled for release February 14, 2019.[30] In October 2017, Condon decided to postpone pre-production on the film. Deadline Hollywood reported that Condon and David Koepp wanted to rework the script.[31] Condon is also set to write and direct Marley, a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol through the perspective of Ebenezer Scrooge's deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, for Walt Disney Pictures.[32]

Condon is a member of the Independent Feature Projects (IFP) in Los Angeles, a non-profit organization which supports independent films, as well as the Independent Writers Steering Committee, which was initiated by the Writers Guild of America (WGA).

Personal life

Condon is openly gay.[33] He is in a long-term relationship with Jack Morrissey.[34][35]

Filmography

Film
Year Film Director Writer Producer Notes
1981 Strange Behavior No Yes associate
1983 Strange Invaders No Yes No Nominated- Saturn Award for Best Writing
1987 Sister, Sister Yes Yes No
1991 F/X2 No Yes No
1995 Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh Yes No No
1998 Gods and Monsters Yes Yes No Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
2002 Chicago No Yes No Nominated- Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominated- Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
2003 Shortcut to Happiness No Yes No Released in 2007
2004 Kinsey Yes Yes No
2006 Dreamgirls Yes Yes No
2011 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Yes No No Nominated - Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director
2012 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 Yes No No Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director
2013 The Fifth Estate Yes No No
2015 Mr. Holmes Yes No No
2017 Beauty and the Beast Yes No No
The Greatest Showman No Yes No
2019 The Good Liar Yes No Yes

Television
Year Title Director Producer Writer Notes
1991 Murder 101 Yes No Yes TV movie
White Lie Yes No No
Dead in the Water Yes No No
1993 Deadly Relations Yes No No
1995 The Man Who Wouldn't Die Yes Yes No
2000 The Others Yes No No Episode "1112"
2010 The Big C Yes executive No Directed episode "Pilot"
2011 Tilda Yes executive No TV movie[36]

See also

References
  1. "Bill Condon". Internet Broadway Database (The Broadway League). Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  2. "Director Bill Condon is Ready For His Close-up on Broadway". New York Observer. November 14, 2014. Archived from the original on December 4, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  3. Lui, Claire (March–April 2006). "The Outsider on the Inside". Columbia College Today. Columbia University. Archived from the original on October 9, 2008. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  4. Huttner, Jan Lisa (November 19, 2004). "Kinsey: The Really Good Films Interview with director and screenwriter Bill Condon". Films42.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  5. Condon in Elder, Robert K. (2011). The Film That Changed My Life. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. p. 44.
  6. Cieply, Michael (December 31, 2008). "A Hollywood Party, and You're Invited". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 26, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  7. Maslin, Janet (October 16, 1981). "A Taste of the 50s in 'Strange Behavior'". The New York Times. Retrieved March 9, 2017. Mr. Condon appears in the film, rather sportingly, as the first kid in Galesville to be hideously murdered by some unidentified demon.
  8. Canby, Vincent (September 16, 1983). "Monster Power in 'Strange Invaders'". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  9. "Sister Sister DVD (1987)". BBC News. October 28, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  10. "Best Mystery TV Episode Edgar Award Winners and Nominees – Complete Lists". Mystery.net. Archived from the original on March 3, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  11. Terry, Clifford (May 10, 1991). "Effects Aside, 'Fx 2' Isn't As Special As The First". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 11, 2017. ... there are instances when Bill Condon`s script just doesn`t make sense.
  12. Jicha, Tom (May 28, 1995). "'The Man Who Wouldn't Die' Should". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  13. "Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh". TimeOut. Retrieved March 11, 2017. Atrocious.
  14. Weinraub, Bernard (March 26, 1999). "At the Movies". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  15. "Complete list of Oscar winners". The Guardian. March 24, 2003. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  16. "Celebrity Watch". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. May 6, 2003. p. 53. I had the extreme pleasure of presenting the Edgar Award for best motion picture screenplay to Chicago's Bill Condon at the Hyatt Thursday night.
  17. Scott, A.O. (November 12, 2004). "Where Darkness Ruled, He Shone a Bright Light". The New York Times. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  18. Gans, Andrew (April 19, 2005). "GLAAD to Honor Minnelli and Condon at Los Angeles Awards April 30". Playbill. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  19. Gans, Andrew (January 23, 2007). "Oscar Nominations Announced; "Dreamgirls" Receives Eight Noms, Excluding Best Picture". Playbill. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  20. Brown, Patricia Leigh (February 12, 2009). "The Little Gold Man in a New Blue World". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  21. Crouch, Aaron (February 23, 2013). "'Twilight' Wins 7 Razzie Awards Including Worst Picture". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  22. "After 'Twilight,' WikiLeaks: Director Richard Condon on 'Fifth Estate.'". StarTribune. October 17, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  23. Herzfeld, Laura (November 1, 2013). "Bill Condon on 'Fifth Estate' disaster: Assange just 'wore out his welcome'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  24. Isherwood, Charles (June 20, 2014). "A Grandeur That Eclipses the Grotesque". The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  25. Healy, Patrick (December 12, 2014). "Theater Owner Pushes 'Side Show' to Close". The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  26. Farber, Stephen (July 11, 2015). "The clues to 'Mr. Holmes' director Bill Condon's varied career". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  27. "Disney taps Bill Condon to direct a live-action 'Beauty and the Beast'". Entertainment Weekly. June 4, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  28. Barnes, Brooks (March 1, 2017). "'Beauty and the Beast' Director Talks of 'Exclusively Gay' Moment". The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2017. 'LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston. He's confused about what he wants. It's somebody who's just realizing that he has these feelings.'
  29. Siegel, Tatiana (October 24, 2013). "Bill Condon to Rewrite Fox's P.T. Barnum Musical Starring Hugh Jackman". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  30. Couch, Aaron (May 22, 2017). "Universal Sets 'Bride of Frankenstein' for 2019". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  31. Fleming Jr., Mike. "Bride Of Frankenstein Back To The Lab As Pre-Production Is Postponed". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  32. Shuler, Skyler (October 28, 2019). "'Beauty and the Beast' Director Bill Condon To Direct Musical Re-Imagining of 'A Christmas Carol' For Disney". The DisInsider.
  33. Lawrence Ferber. "Bill Condon - Gay and Lesbian Travel". Passport Magazine. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  34. Kilday, Gregg (March 2, 2017). "'Beauty and the Beast' Director on How 'La La Land' Is Bringing Musicals Back". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 3, 2017. Retrieved March 2, 2017. Condon and his longtime partner Jack Morrissey, who works with him as his co-producer, divide their time between New York (where Condon edits his films) and Los Angeles.
  35. Teeman, Tim (November 18, 2014). "Can Condon's Freak Show Win Broadway?". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  36. Ausiello, Michael; Rice, Lynette (August 23, 2010). "Backstage drama erupts at HBO's showbiz-themed 'Tilda' as showrunner exits". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
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