Evan Spiliotopoulos (; born ) is a Greek-American screenwriter, film producer, and film director.

Early life

Spiliotopoulos was born in Greece, and graduated from high school there. Soon after, he moved to the United States and attended the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

to get an undergraduate degree in film theory. He then attended

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

for a master's degree in screenwriting. After moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1995, his first job in the industry was in a television film ''Trial by Fire'' as an intern.

Career

In the 2000s, Spiliotopoulos wrote several animated projects for

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...

. He was attached to write a prequel of to the classic animated ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' film. However, the project was finally cancelled when

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

was acquired by

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

in 2006. In April 2009, Spiliotopoulos was set to write the screenplay for the action film ''Wanted 2'', a sequel to the 2008 film '' Wanted''. In June 2013, Universal acquired the remake rights to the Japanese 2007 anime film '' Vexille'' and set Spiliotopoulos to write the screenplay. In July 2014, Spiliotopoulos was hired by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

to write the script for the 2014 novel ''Seven Wonders'' written by Ben Mezrich. Spiliotopoulos had already rewritten the script of the horror film '' Ouija'', but his draft wasn't used in the film. In 2014, Spiliotopoulos re-wrote the screenplay for the action-adventure fantasy film ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'', originally written by Ryan J. Condal.

Brett Ratner Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American film director and producer. He directed the Rush Hour (film series), ''Rush Hour'' film series, ''The Family Man'', ''Red Dragon (2002 film), Red Dragon'', ''X-Men: The Last Stand'', ''Tower Heist ...

directed the film which released on July 25, 2014 by

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 ...

. Spiliotopoulos wrote the screenplay of action-adventure fantasy film '' The Huntsman: Winter's War'', along with

Craig Mazin Craig Mazin (born 1971) is an American writer, director, and producer. He is best known for creating, writing, and producing the HBO historical disaster drama miniseries ''Chernobyl (miniseries), Chernobyl'' (2019) and co-creating, co-writing, an ...

, and rewritten by Frank Darabont.

Cedric Nicolas-Troyan Cedric Nicolas-Troyan (born 9 March 1969) is a French visual effects artist and film director. In 2013 he earned an Academy Awards, Academy Award nomination for Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, Best Visual Effects for his role as visual ef ...

directed the film, which was released on April 22, 2016 by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

. Spiliotopoulos and Stephen Chbosky wrote Disney's live action musical romantic fantasy film ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'', which was directed by

Bill Condon William Condon (born October 22, 1955) is an American director and screenwriter. Condon is known for writing and/or directing numerous successful and acclaimed films including ''Gods and Monsters (film), Gods and Monsters'', ''Chicago (2002 fi ...

, and starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens. The film was released on March 17, 2017. Spiliotopoulos received a "story by" credit, with David Auburn, for the ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts for ABC. It originally aired from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, airing for five seasons consisting of 115 episodes. It was produ ...

'' reboot film of 2019, which was written and directed by Elizabeth Banks. In 2021, Spiliotopoulos' directorial debut, the horror film '' The Unholy'' was released.

Writing credits

Theatrical release Direct-to-video Television

References

External links

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Evan Spiliotopoulos Interview
wit
Scripts & Scribes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiliotopoulos, Evan 1970s births 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters American male screenwriters American writers of Greek descent Greek emigrants to the United States Greek screenwriters Living people Screenwriters from Los Angeles Year of birth missing (living people)