David Samuel Goyer (born December 22, 1965) is an American filmmaker, novelist, and comic book writer. He is best known for writing the
screenplay
A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...
s and stories for several
superhero film
Superhero film/movie is a film genre categorized by the presence of superhero characters, individuals with extraordinary abilities who are dedicated to fighting crime, saving the world, or helping the innocent. It is sometimes considered a sub ...
s, including ''
Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (1998), the ''
Blade
A blade is the Sharpness (cutting), sharp, cutting portion of a tool, weapon, or machine, specifically designed to puncture, chop, slice, or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they a ...
'' trilogy (1998–2004),
Christopher Nolan's
''Dark Knight'' trilogy (2005–2012), ''
Man of Steel'' (2013), and ''
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' (2016). He has also directed four films: ''
Zig Zag'' (2002), ''
Blade: Trinity'' (2004), ''
The Invisible'' (2007), and ''
The Unborn'' (2009). He is the creator of the science fiction television series ''
Foundation'' which is loosely based upon the
''Foundation'' series written by Isaac Asimov.
Goyer was co-writer of the video games ''
Call of Duty: Black Ops'', ''
Call of Duty: Black Ops II'', and ''
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War''. He won a
Saturn Award for Best Writing for ''
Batman Begins'' (2005) and received another nomination for ''
Dark City'', and has been nominated for four
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...
s.
Early life
Goyer and his brother Jeff were born in
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...
, and were raised by their mother. He is
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
on his mother's side, and attended
Hebrew school. Goyer is an alumnus of
Huron High School and the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
, graduating from the
School of Cinema-Television in 1988.
Goyer was a student of screenwriter
Nelson Gidding 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
* ...
and frequently returned to Gidding's class as a guest speaker. He graduated in 1988 and sold his first screenplay for ''
Death Warrant'' in 1989, which starred
Jean-Claude Van Damme. With his first paycheck, he bought an
Isuzu Trooper, which was stolen the first night he drove it home.
Career
A professed comic book fanatic who often wrote to
letter columns, Goyer has written or co-written several screenplays based on comic book characters and series, including ''
Batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
'', ''
Superman
Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
'', ''
Ghost Rider'', and ''
Blade
A blade is the Sharpness (cutting), sharp, cutting portion of a tool, weapon, or machine, specifically designed to puncture, chop, slice, or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they a ...
''. and had written a script treatment for a film adaptation of
''Venom'', which was rejected. Goyer wrote a title based around the
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America (JSA) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It first appeared in '' ...
for
DC Comics
DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
titled ''JSA'', which debuted in August 1999. For the first five issues, he collaborated with
James Robinson and, until his departure following issue 51, with
Geoff Johns
Geoffrey Johns (born January 25, 1973) is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and film and television producer. Johns's work on the DC Comics characters Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash (comics), Flash, and Superman has drawn critical accl ...
, who would take over as solo writer. Alongside
Brannon Braga, Goyer co-created ''
FlashForward
A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward, and more formally known as prolepsis) is a scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards a ...
'', a science-fiction TV series that premiered on ABC in 2009. The series was based on the novel by
Robert J. Sawyer. He stepped in as
show runner in October 2009 after the series struggled out of the gate. On February 5, 2010, Goyer announced he would be stepping down as ''FlashForward'' showrunner to focus on feature films and directing.
Goyer's comicbook films explore the consequences of becoming a symbolic figure, a topic he has long been interested in.
In 2011, Goyer wrote a short story titled "The Incident" in which Superman renounces his United States citizenship. Goyer worked with
Legendary Pictures on three of their projects. He co-wrote the scripts for ''
The Dark Knight Rises'' (2012) and ''
Man of Steel'' (2013). In addition, he did a one-step 4-week rewrite for Legendary Pictures'
''Godzilla'' reboot. During the same year, Goyer published his first novel, ''Heaven's Shadow'', the first in a trilogy co-written by
Michael Cassutt for
Ace/Penguin. The novel received generally positive reviews. Goyer subsequently sold the film rights to
Warner Bros. and is adapting the first novel for the big screen.
In late October 2011, cable channel
Starz and
BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetised BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...
greenlit his TV project, ''
Da Vinci's Demons'', which followed the life of a 25-year-old
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...
. "This will be a show about secret histories, genius, madness and all things profane," according to Goyer. The show ran for three seasons and received generally favorable reviews, including an 81% rating from Rotten Tomatoes. In March 2013, ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' announced that Goyer would be directing a film adaptation of the novel ''
The Count of Monte Cristo'' by
Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright.
His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...
.
In June 2013, he was announced to work on both ''
Justice League
The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...
'' and a sequel to ''
Man of Steel''. In September 2013, Goyer delivered a screenwriting lecture as part of the BAFTA and BFI Screenwriters' Lecture Series.
Goyer produced the horror film ''
The Forest'', directed by
Jason Zada.
Focus Features has the North American distribution rights to the film,
which was Zada's
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...
directorial debut.
By 2014, having already earned a reputation as a veteran of the superhero genre, Goyer shifted his focus to the independent production genre, hiring producer Kevin Turen to run his company.
Explaining his thinking, Goyer said: "Everybody talks about how it seems like studios increasingly are relying on these big tentpoles and some micro-budget horror films, and that's the majority of the slate," Goyer said. "I've been a benefactor of that movement, but there are a ton of films out there I've really admired over the last few years that studios aren't making, and I wanted to see if I could help get more of them made."
In 2015, soon after embracing independent producing, Goyer won a competitive situation to produce the feature version of ''Miles''. Furthermore, he executive-produced
Nate Parker
Nate Parker (born November 18, 1979) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has appeared in ''Beyond the Lights'', ''Red Tails'', ''The Secret Life of Bees (film), The Secret Life of Bees'', ''The Great Debaters'', Arbitrage (film), ''Arbitrage ...
's feature ''
The Birth of a Nation'', which sold for a record $17.5 million at the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023.
The festival has acted ...
, before sweeping the festival's awards.
In addition to producing, Goyer continues to write. In 2014, he was tapped to write and produce the feature ''
Fantastic Voyage'', based on the 1966 original, for
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...
.
Breaking the news, ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' announced: "The project has been quiet since 2011, but Goyer's involvement kick-starts and will re-engineer what the studio and producers hope to be an event-sized tentpole. It is also now placing the project on the fast track"
In January 2016, acclaimed director
Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...
signed on to direct the feature. Goyer co-wrote
Warner Bros.' blockbuster ''
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' (2016), with
Zack Snyder and
Chris Terrio. In July 2016, it was announced that Goyer will write and direct an upcoming interactive
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...
film about
Darth Vader. Goyer stated that he found creating VR content very different from other media, but said "it's surprising how much you feel and how emotional
he VR experienceis
..there is stuff that makes you tear up and cry, and it's really phenomenal."
In January 2017, Goyer signed on to co-produce and co-write ''Green Lantern Corps'', an installment in the
DC Extended Universe, with Justin Rhodes, based on a story treatment by Goyer and
Geoff Johns
Geoffrey Johns (born January 25, 1973) is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and film and television producer. Johns's work on the DC Comics characters Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash (comics), Flash, and Superman has drawn critical accl ...
. By April of the same year, it was announced that he had signed on to write the script for the reboot of ''
Masters of the Universe
''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or ''She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince A ...
'', intended to be released in 2019. Goyer was later announced as director along with Lindsey Beer writing a new draft of the screenplay in January 2018. Filming was set to begin April 2018. By February of that year, Goyer dropped out as the film's director and writer. According to Carlos Huante, a creature designer hired for the film and who worked on the original cartoon,
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
felt that Goyer's script would be too expensive to bring to life as Goyer intended for the movie to be on the epic scale of ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...
'' trilogy.
In September 2017, ''
Deadline'' reported that Goyer and his ''Green Lantern Corps'' partner Justin Rhodes, as well as Chris Eglee and
Josh Friedman were hired to take part in a writers room in order to write the next ''
Terminator'' trilogy, under the direction of collaborating team
Tim Miller and
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...
.
In the early 2020s, Goyer produced ''
The Night House'', starring
Rebecca Hall, as well as the
Scott Cooper film ''
Antlers''. ''The Night House'' premiered at the 2020
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023.
The festival has acted ...
;
Searchlight purchased the rights to the film, and released it to critical acclaim in August 2021. Goyer produced the 2021 film ''
The Tomorrow War'', starring
Chris Pratt for
Skydance and
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
. He has been signed on as a producer for
the sequel.
Goyer executive produces and serves as showrunner for ''
Foundation'', which premiered on
Apple TV+ on September 24, 2021, and is based on
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...
's
novels of the same name. He wrote the first and last episodes as well as directing the season finale. Goyer co-wrote the pilot and serves as executive producer for ''
The Sandman'', which was released on
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 ...
on August 5, 2022. Goyer had been involved with an adaptation of
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...
's comic book ''
The Sandman'' since he had pitched a story idea in December 2013. By February 2014, he was set to produce a feature film, starring
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but the film's development stalled and transitioned into a television show.
For the 2022 film ''
Hellraiser'', a reimagining of the
franchise of the same name, Goyer wrote the story and produced the film under the Phantom Four banner for
Spyglass and
Hulu
Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
. His Phantom Four company had signed a deal with
Village Roadshow Pictures.
Works
Film
Producer only
Uncredited writing roles
* ''
Pet Sematary Two'' (1992)
* ''
On Deadly Ground'' (1994)
* ''
Freddy vs. Jason'' (2003)
* ''
Godzilla'' (2014)
Television
Video games
Narrative podcasts
Novels
* ''Heaven's Shadow'' (with
Michael Cassutt) (2011)
* ''Heaven's War'' (with Michael Cassutt) (2012)
* ''Heaven's Fall'' (with Michael Cassutt) (2013)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goyer, David S.
1965 births
Living people
Skydance Media people
American comics writers
American male screenwriters
Jewish American screenwriters
Writers from Ann Arbor, Michigan
USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni
Film directors from Michigan
Film producers from Michigan
Screenwriters from Michigan
21st-century American Jews
Television producers from Michigan
American television show creators
American showrunners