Walter Duch Richter (born December 7, 1945) is an American screenwriter, film director and film producer. He is best known for adapting ''

Invasion of the Body Snatchers ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' is a 1956 American science fiction horror film produced by Walter Wanger, directed by Don Siegel, and starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. The black-and-white film was shot in Superscope and in the film ...

'', directing ''

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension ''The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension'', often shortened to ''Buckaroo Banzai'', is a 1984 American science fiction film produced and directed by W. D. Richter and written by Earl Mac Rauch. It stars Peter Weller in the ti ...

'' and co-writing ''

Big Trouble in Little China ''Big Trouble in Little China'' (also in known as ''John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China'') is a 1986 American fantasy action comedy film directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun and James Hong ...

''.

Biography

Richter graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

and attended

USC Film School The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...

. He began script writing for Hollywood in the 1970s. He wrote the comedy '' Slither'' (1973), followed by two similarly styled comedies, '' Peeper'' (1975) and ''

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

'' (1976). He branched into other genres starting with the 1970s remake of ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers''. He wrote scripts throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In the early 1980s, Richter formed his own production company (with producer

Neil Canton Neil Canton (born 1948) is an American film producer from New York City best known for his work on the ''Back to the Future'' trilogy. Canton currently serves as an instructor and mentor Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction ...

), Canton/Richter, and directed ''

''. The film did poorly at the box office, and the company ended. In 1981, he wrote a screenplay based on Eric Van Lustbader's novel '' The Ninja'' for

Irvin Kershner Irvin Kershner (born Isadore Kershner; April 29, 1923November 27, 2010) was an American film director, actor, and producer of film and television. He gained notice early in his career as a filmmaker for directing quirky, independent drama films ...

to direct with

Richard Zanuck Richard Darryl Zanuck (December 13, 1934 – July 13, 2012) was an American film producer. His 1989 film '' Driving Miss Daisy'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Zanuck was also instrumental in launching the career of director Steven Spi ...

and David Brown and

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

to produce, which ultimately never got made. Richter continued to write screenplays however, and has since written '' Home for the Holidays'' and '' Stealth''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richter, W. D. 1945 births Living people American male screenwriters Dartmouth College alumni Writers from New Britain, Connecticut Film directors from Connecticut Screenwriters from Connecticut Film producers from Connecticut