David Koepp

David Koepp (born June 9, 1963) is an American screenwriter and film director. Koepp is the ninth most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts with a total gross of over $2.3 billion.[1]

David Koepp
Born	June 9, 1963 Pewaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Occupation	Screenwriter, director
Years active	1988–present
Known for	Jurassic Park Mission: Impossible Spider-Man Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Spouse(s)	Melissa Thomas
Children	4
Awards	Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation Saturn Award for Best Writing Fantastic'Arts Grand Prize

Koepp has achieved both critical and commercial success in a wide variety of genres: thriller, science fiction, comedy, action, drama, crime, superhero, horror, adventure, and fantasy.

Some of the best known films he has written include the sci-fi adventure films Jurassic Park (1993), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008); the crime film Carlito's Way (1993); the action spy films Mission: Impossible (1996) and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014); the superhero film Spider-Man (2002); the sci-fi disaster film War of the Worlds (2005) and the mystery thriller Angels & Demons (2009). Koepp has directed seven feature films over the course of his career: The Trigger Effect (1996), Stir of Echoes (1999), Secret Window (2004), Ghost Town (2008), Premium Rush (2012), Mortdecai (2015), and You Should Have Left (2020).

Early life and education

Koepp was born in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, to a family therapist mother, and Donald Koepp, who owned a billboard company.[2][3] While attending Kettle Moraine High School in Wales, Wisconsin, he worked evenings and weekends at the McDonald's restaurant in Delafield. He received his bachelor's degree in film from UCLA.

Career

As a writer, Koepp worked on blockbuster Hollywood films such as Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, and Spider-Man. He had a cameo appearance as the "Unlucky Bastard", a minor character devoured by a T. rex roaming San Diego in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which he co-wrote and was second unit director of. Although Koepp did not write Jurassic Park III, he did devise the film's basic storyline.[4][5] Koepp later declined an offer to write a script for the series' fourth film, Jurassic World, as he felt he had nothing left to contribute to the series.[6]

Koepp was reportedly paid $4,000,000 for his Panic Room screenplay. He wrote the screenplay for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and co-wrote and directed 2008's Ghost Town starring Ricky Gervais and Greg Kinnear.

Koepp's work as a director has not had quite the same box office success. His films include Secret Window, Stir of Echoes, and The Trigger Effect.

Koepp has also worked in television, creating the 2002 series Hack starring David Morse.

In 2012, Koepp directed Premium Rush, which he co-wrote with John Kamps.[7] In an August 2011 lawsuit, Joe Quirk, the author of the 1998 novel The Ultimate Rush, accused Koepp and the makers of Premium Rush of copyright infringement.[8] On April 2, 2013, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg dismissed this case, finding that the two works were not substantially similar.[9]

On February 17, 2013, Koepp received the WGA East's Ian McClellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement.[10]

On July 10, 2013, Lionsgate was reported to have acquired the comedic crime novel The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery, written by Kyril Bonfiglioli.[11] Koepp directed the film, titled Mortdecai, from a script by Eric Aronson;[12] Johnny Depp played the lead role of Charlie Mortdecai,[13] and the film also featured Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, and Paul Bettany.[14] Koepp adapted the Marcus Sakey novel Brilliance, which will star Will Smith and Noomi Rapace.[15]

On March 15, 2016, The Walt Disney Company announced a fifth installment of the Indiana Jones saga, with Koepp as its screenwriter.[16][17] By June 2018, Koepp ultimately backed out of the project due to his commitment to You Should Have Left, a film Koepp wrote and is set to direct.[18] which is based upon novel of the same name by Daniel Kehlmann, which will star Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried.[19][20]

On September 3 of 2019, Koepp made his novel debut with the release of the book Cold Storage, a science-fiction thriller.[21]

Personal life

Koepp has a wife, Melissa, and four children.

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1988	Apartment Zero	No	Yes	Yes	co-wrote with Martin Donovan
1990	Bad Influence	No	Yes	No
	Why Me?	No	Yes	No	co-wrote with Donald E. Westlake
	I Come in Peace	No	Yes	No	co-wrote with Jonathan Tydor
1991	Toy Soldiers	No	Yes	No	co-wrote with Daniel Petrie Jr.
1992	Death Becomes Her	No	Yes	No	co-wrote with Martin Donovan
1993	Jurassic Park	No	Yes	No	co-wrote with Michael Crichton
	Carlito's Way	No	Yes	No
1994	The Paper	No	Yes	Yes	co-wrote with Stephen Koepp
	The Shadow	No	Yes	No
	Suspicious	Yes	Yes	No	Short film
1996	Mission: Impossible	No	Yes	No	co-wrote with Robert Towne and Steven Zaillian
	The Trigger Effect	Yes	Yes	No
1997	The Lost World: Jurassic Park	No	Yes	No	Also second unit director and cameo
1998	Snake Eyes	No	Yes	No	co-wrote with Brian De Palma
1999	Stir of Echoes	Yes	Yes	No
2002	Panic Room	No	Yes	Yes
	Spider-Man	No	Yes	No
2004	Secret Window	Yes	Yes	No
2005	War of the Worlds	No	Yes	No	co-wrote with Josh Friedman
	Zathura: A Space Adventure	No	Yes	No	co-wrote with John Kamps
2008	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull	No	Yes	No	co-wrote with George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson
	Ghost Town	Yes	Yes	No	co-wrote with John Kamps
2009	Angels & Demons	No	Yes	No	co-wrote with Akiva Goldsman
2011	The Little Engine That Could	No	Yes	No	co-wrote with John Kamps, Cliff Ruby and Elana Lesser
2012	Premium Rush	Yes	Yes	No	co-wrote with John Kamps
2014	Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit	No	Yes	No	co-wrote with Adam Cozad
2015	Mortdecai	Yes	No	No
2016	Inferno	No	Yes	No
2017	The Mummy	No	Yes	No	co-wrote with Christopher McQuarrie and Dylan Kussman
2020	You Should Have Left	Yes	Yes	No

Television

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Notes
2002	Hack	No	Yes	Creator
2003	Suspense	Yes	No	TV movie

References

1. "Box Office Mojo - People Index". Boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
2. "David Koepp Biography (1963-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
4. "Jurassic Park 3 Director Talks Script Problems of the Upcoming Sequel". Screenwritersutopia.com. July 11, 2001. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
5. "Jumanji's Joe Johnston Joins Jurassic". About.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2006.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
6. Douglas, Edward (August 22, 2012). "Exclusive: David Koepp on Jack Ryan , Snow White & Jurassic Park". Comingsoon.net. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
7. Siegel, Tatiana (November 11, 2009). "Koepp to helm 'Premium Rush'". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
8. Stevens, Elizabeth Lesly, "A Big Hollywood Movie Is Coming, and a Novelist Cries Foul", The New York Times, August 20, 2011
9. Gardner, Eriq, "Sony Pictures Wins 'Premium Rush' Theft Lawsuit", "The Hollywood Reporter", April 3, 2013
10. McNary, Dave, "WGA East Honors Koepp", "Variety", January 29, 2013
11. "Johnny Depp to Star in 'Mortdecai' for Lionsgate, Director David Koepp". thewrap.com. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
12. "David Koepp is set to direct from Eric Aronson's script". deadline.com. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
13. "Johnny Depp in Talks to Star in 'Mortdecai'". hollywoodreporter.com. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
14. "Gwyneth Paltrow and Ewan McGregor join Johnny Depp on Mortdecai". guardian.co.uk. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2014-05-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
16. Agar, Chris (18 March 2016). "Indiana Jones 5 Recruits Jurassic Park Writer David Koepp". ScreenRant.com. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
17. Shepherd, Jack (20 March 2016). "Indiana Jones 5: Crystal Skull writer David Koepp signs on to write sequel". The Independent. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
18. Galuppo, Mia; Kit, Borys (June 28, 2018). "Indiana Jones 5 Delayed as New Writer Is Brought On". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
19. D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 26, 2018). "Kevin Bacon, David Koepp Making 'You Should Have Left' For Blumhouse". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
20. Kit, Borys (June 7, 2018). "Amanda Seyfried Joins Kevin Bacon in Blumhouse Thriller 'You Should Have Left'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
21. Koepp, David. "Cold Storage". harpercollins.com. HarperCollins Publishers. Retrieved 13 September 2019.

External links

• David Koepp at IMDb