Robert Luketic (born 1 November 1973) is an Australian film director. His films include ''

Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith from Amanda Brown's 2001 novel of the same name. It stars Reese Wi ...

'' (2001), '' Monster-in-Law'' (2005), '' 21'' (2008), '' Killers'' (2010), and '' Paranoia'' (2013).

Early life

Robert Luketic was born in Sydney, Australia, the elder of two children of a Croatian father and Italian mother.

Career

Luketic started making short films as a teenager and went on to study at the

Victorian College of Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus of the ...

– School of Film and Television (VCA). He first attracted Hollywood's attention with his award-winning short film ''

Titsiana Booberini ''Titsiana Booberini'' is a 1997 Australian short film directed by Robert Luketic, written by and starring Tania Lacy, also starring Sophie Lee, and Roz Hammond. Initially entered at the Telluride Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival, ...

'' written by Tania Lacy. After screening to much acclaim at several festivals within Australia, ''Titsiana Booberini'' became a hit at many internationally renowned festivals including the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

. It won "Best Film" at the Aspen Shortsfest. Luketic directed the comedy ''

'' for

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

in the summer of 2001. This film, which grossed close to $100 million domestically and was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, marked Luketic's feature film directing debut. Next, Luketic directed the

DreamWorks Pictures DreamWorks Pictures (also known as DreamWorks SKG and formerly DreamWorks Studios, commonly referred to as DreamWorks) is an American film company and distribution label of Amblin Partners. It was originally founded on October 12, 1994 as a liv ...

film ''

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! ''Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!'' is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Luketic, written by Victor Levin and starring Kate Bosworth, Topher Grace, Josh Duhamel, Gary Cole, Ginnifer Goodwin, Sean Hayes and Nathan Lane. T ...

''. The 2003 film, produced by Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher at Red Wagon, stars

Kate Bosworth Catherine Anne Bosworth (born January 2, 1983) is an American actress. Following minor roles in the films '' The Horse Whisperer'' (1998) and ''Remember the Titans'' (2000), she rose to prominence with her role as a young surfer in the box-offi ...

Nathan Lane Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. In a career spanning over 40 years he has been seen on stage and screen in roles both comedic and dramatic. Lane has received numerous awards including three Tony Awards, ...

Josh Duhamel Joshua David Duhamel (; born November 14, 1972) is an American actor and former fashion model. After various modeling work, he made his acting debut as Leo du Pres on the ABC daytime soap opera ''All My Children'' and later starred as Danny M ...

and Topher Grace. In 2005, he directed '' Monster-in-Law'', starring Jennifer Lopez, Jane Fonda, and

Michael Vartan Michael S. Vartan (born November 27, 1968) is a French-American actor, known for his role as Michael Vaughn on the ABC television action drama ''Alias'', his role on the TNT medical drama '' Hawthorne'', and his role on the '' E!'' drama '' The ...

. In 2008, Luketic released '' 21'', based on the book '' Bringing Down the House'' by

Ben Mezrich Ben Mezrich ( ; born February 7, 1969) is an American author. Early life and education Mezrich was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Molli Newman, a lawyer, and Reuben Mezrich, a chairman of radiology at the University of Maryland Scho ...

. The film tells the true story of five

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

students who became experts at counting cards and subsequently took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings. The film stars Kevin Spacey,

Jim Sturgess James Anthony Sturgess''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 16 May 1978) is an English actor and singer-songwriter. His first major role was as Jude in the musical romance drama film ''Acro ...

, and Laurence Fishburne. He directed the romantic comedy ''

The Ugly Truth ''The Ugly Truth'' is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Luketic, written by Nicole Eastman, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, and starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. The film was released in North America on ...

'', which opened in July 2009. Starring

Katherine Heigl Katherine Marie Heigl ( ; born November 24, 1978) is an American actress and former fashion model. She played Dr. Izzie Stevens on the ABC television medical drama '' Grey's Anatomy'' from 2005 to 2010, a role that brought her recognition and ...

and

Gerard Butler Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as '' Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never D ...

, the film follows a morning show producer (Heigl) who sets out to disprove the outrageous relationship theories of her chauvinistic correspondent (Butler). Luketic next directed the action-comedy '' Killers'', starring Heigl and

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer, entrepreneur, and former model. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a People's Choice Award, and nominations for two Young Artist Awards, a S ...

Filmography

* ''

'' (1997) (short film) * ''

'' (2001) * ''

'' (2004) * '' Monster-in-Law'' (2005) * '' 21'' (2008) * ''

'' (2009) * '' Killers'' (2010) * '' Paranoia'' (2013) * ''

The Wedding Year ''The Wedding Year'' is a 2019 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Luketic and starring Sarah Hyland, Tyler James Williams, Jenna Dewan, Matt Shively and Anna Camp. It was released on September 20, 2019, by Entertainment Studios Mot ...

'' (2019)

References

External links

*
robluketic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luketic, Robert 1973 births Australian film directors Australian people of Croatian descent Australian people of Italian descent People from Sydney Living people Victorian College of the Arts alumni