Eric Andrew Heisserer (born 1970) is an American filmmaker, comic book writer, television writer, and television producer. His screenplay for the film '' Arrival'' earned him a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination at the

89th Academy Awards The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2016 in film, films of 2016, and took place on February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Californ ...

in 2016.

Career

Heisserer's professional screenwriting career was launched with the sale of ''The Dionaea House'' to Warner Bros. in 2005, based on an online epistolary story of the same name that he wrote from autumn 2004 to winter 2006. ''The Dionaea House'' was a multimedia novel told across multiple blogs run by fictional characters, and concerned an ominous house that existed in multiple places across the United States. It is considered to be one of the first popular creepypasta stories. He then developed an original television pilot for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

and CBS, and wrote feature projects for

Jerry Bruckheimer Jerome Leonard Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television producer. He has been active in the genres of action, drama, comedy, fantasy, horror and science fiction. After working in advertising out of college, Bruck ...

Films and

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

In 2007, he sold a pitch to

Regency Enterprises New Regency Productions is an American-British-Luxembourgish entertainment company formed by Arnon Milchan. It was founded in 1991 as the successor to Regency International Pictures (formerly known as Embassy International Pictures N.V.). His ...

and Fox called ''Inhuman'', a supernatural thriller set in Tokyo that combines live action and anime sequences, as well as a coming-of-age horror script titled ''Dustycats'', about a teenage girl who discovers she transforms into a

werecat A werecat (also written in a hyphenated form as were- cat) is an analog to "werewolf" for a feline therianthropic creature. Etymology Ailuranthropy comes from the Greek root words ''ailouros'' meaning "cat", and ''anthropos'', meaning "human" ...

when aroused. In December 2008, Heisserer was hired to re-envision and rewrite the script for the franchise reboot of ''

A Nightmare on Elm Street ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American Supernatural horror film, supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise), ''A ...

'', produced by Platinum Dunes. An early draft had been written by Wesley Strick. The script went on to land director Samuel Bayer, actor Jackie Earle Haley, and began filming in May 2009. He rewrote the prequel to director

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror film, horror, action film, action, and science fiction film, science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is ...

's 1982 remake '' The Thing''. In April 2010, Heisserer signed on to write ''

Final Destination 5 ''Final Destination 5'' is a 2011 American 3D supernatural horror film directed by Steven Quale and written by Eric Heisserer. It is the fifth installment in the ''Final Destination'' film series and serves as a prequel to the 2000 origi ...

'', the fifth film of the horror film franchise. Heisserer made his directorial debut with the film '' Hours'', starring Paul Walker. Heisserer co-wrote '' The Conjuring 2'' along with the brothers Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes. Heisserer wrote along with artist Felipe Massafera and Colorist Wes Dzioba, the comic book series Shaper. Heisserer wrote the 2016 film '' Arrival'' based on

Ted Chiang Ted Chiang (; pinyin: ''Jiāng Fēngnán''; born 1967) is an American science fiction writer. His work has won four Nebula Award, Nebula awards, four Hugo Award, Hugo awards, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and six Locus Award, ...

's novella "

Story of Your Life "Story of Your Life" is a science fiction novella by American writer Ted Chiang, first published in '' Starlight 2'' in 1998, and later in 2002 in Chiang's collection of short stories, '' Stories of Your Life and Others''. Its major themes are ...

"''.'' Heisserer has said that he was attracted to the challenge of adapting the non-linear story by its emotional content. After the release of the film, he was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the

. In July 2017, Heisserer announced that he was developing a science fiction series based on another

story, " Liking What You See: A Documentary", for AMC. The series will explore concepts such as beauty, relationships, and advertising. On September 27, 2017, there was an announcement that Heisserer would write the script for the live-action remake of the sci-fi romance anime ''

Your Name is a 2016 Japanese animated romantic fantasy film written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, produced by CoMix Wave Films, and distributed by Toho. Inspired by the frequency of natural disasters in Japan, the film depicts the story of high scho ...

''. By September 2020, he was replaced by Lee Isaac Chung and Emily V. Gordon. Heisserer wrote the script for '' Bird Box'' (2018), based on the thriller book '' Bird Box'', by Josh Malerman. 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 ...

, the film stars

Sandra Bullock Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and film producer. The List of highest-paid film actors, highest-paid actress of 2010 and 2014, Sandra Bullock filmography, Bullock's filmography spans both comedy and drama, ...

and was directed by

Susanne Bier Susanne Bier (; born 15 April 1960) is a Danish filmmaker. Bier is the first female director to collectively receive an Academy Award (Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, Foreign Film), a Golden Globe Award, a European Film Award ...

. Heisserer formerly served as creator, head writer, show runner, and executive producer of the adapted 2021

series '' Shadow and Bone'', an adaptation of the fantasy book series '' The Grisha Trilogy'' and the '' Six of Crows Duology''. The show ran for two seasons before being cancelled by

in November 2023.

Personal life

Heisserer is the son of Margaret L., a senior editor for a publishing company, and Andrew J. Heisserer, a professor of ancient history, of

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous city and the county seat of Clevel ...

. Heisserer married television producer/writer Christine Boylan in 2010. His previous marriage ended in divorce. Heisserer identifies as agnostic.

Filmography

Film Television

Books

He wrote the book "150 Screenwriting Challenges", containing exercises to help screenwriters develop their skills. It was published in November 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heisserer, Eric 1970 births 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters American agnostics Film directors from Oklahoma American male screenwriters American people of German descent Hugo Award–winning writers Living people Nebula Award winners Place of birth missing (living people) Screenwriters from Oklahoma Writers Guild of America Award winners