Rawson Marshall Thurber (born February 9, 1975) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for writing and directing the 2004 comedy film '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story''.

Early life

Thurber was born in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He is the son of attorney Marshall Thurber. He is a 1997 graduate of

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

(

Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

), where he was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity and played

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

on the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team for two years. He is also a graduate of the Peter Stark Producing Program at

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

Career

Thurber worked as an assistant to screenwriter

John August John August (born August 4, 1970) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist. He is known for writing the films '' Go'' (1999), '' Charlie's Angels'' (2000), '' Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle'' (2003), '' Big Fish'' (2003), '' ...

, beginning with the television show ''D.C.'' In 2002, he wrote and directed the original '' Terry Tate: Office Linebacker'' commercials for

Reebok Reebok International Limited ( ) is an American footwear and clothing brand that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company which had bee ...

. In 2004, he wrote and directed the critically and commercially successful comedy film '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story''. He wrote and directed the

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, D.C., he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, ...

's novel '' The Mysteries of Pittsburgh'', released in 2008. He directed the 2013 '' We're the Millers'', starring Jason Sudeikis and

Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress. She rose to international fame for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom ''Friends'' from 1994 to 2004, which earned her Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, and Scr ...

. In June 2014, he was rumored to replace

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical Film genre, genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zo ...

to direct

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

's '' Ant-Man'', but later turned the job down. He wrote and directed 2016's action-comedy '' Central Intelligence'' with

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...

and

Kevin Hart Kevin Darnell Hart (born July 6, 1979) is an American comedian and actor. The accolades he has received include the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and nominations for two Grammy Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards. After winning se ...

. Thurber wrote and directed the 2018 action film ''

Skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

'' from Legendary Pictures, reteaming with

and released by Universal. He next wrote and directed Legendary's $150 million budget action comedy '' Red Notice'' (2021), starring Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and Johnson. It is the third time he has collaborated with the latter. The project was released by

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. In 2021, Ubisoft announced Thurber would direct the film adaptation of its game series ''The Division'', starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain. The film will be released on Netflix. In 2022, eOne announced that Thurber will be writing and producing the pilot for upcoming TV series ''Dungeons & Dragons''. He also signed on to direct a live-action film based on the '' Voltron'' franchise. In 2023 to 2024, he was planning to do a ''

Dodgeball Dodgeball is a team sports, team sport in which players on two opposing teams try to throw balls and hit opponents while avoiding being hit themselves. The objective of each team is to eliminate all members of the opposing team by hitting them w ...

'' sequel. He also hired Clay Tarver to write the film's screenplay. Ten years on from that development, Jordan VanDina will now write the movie's script.

Filmography

Film

Short film Feature film Acting credits

Television

References

External links

* *Scripts & Scribes Intervie
with Rawson Marshall Thurber
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurber, Rawson Marshall 1975 births Living people Writers from San Francisco Union College (New York) alumni USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni American male screenwriters Film directors from San Francisco Film directors from New York (state) Screenwriters from California Screenwriters from New York (state) Union Garnet Chargers football players Delta Upsilon members