Jonathan Goldstein (filmmaker)
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Jonathan Michael Goldstein (born September 2, 1968) is an American filmmaker, best known for his work on '' Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves'', '' Game Night'', '' Spider-Man: Homecoming'', and ''
Horrible Bosses ''Horrible Bosses'' is a 2011 American black comedy crime film directed by Seth Gordon, written by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, and Jonathan Goldstein, from a story by Markowitz. It stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, ...
''. He has worked collaboratively with John Francis Daley as a film-making duo, whom he met on ''
The Geena Davis Show ''The Geena Davis Show'' is an American sitcom television series created by Terri Minsky starring Geena Davis. The show aired for one season on ABC from October 10, 2000, to July 10, 2001, during the 2000–01 U.S. television season. Plot ...
''.


Career

Daley and Goldstein's earlier work was predominantly based in the comedy genre where they were co-screenwriters for ''Horrible Bosses'' (2011), co-writers for '' The Incredible Burt Wonderstone'' (2013), co-story writers for ''
Horrible Bosses 2 ''Horrible Bosses 2'' is a 2014 American crime comedy film directed by Sean Anders and written by Anders and John Morris (filmmaker), John Morris. A sequel to 2011's ''Horrible Bosses'', the film features Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeiki ...
'' (2014), and also co-wrote/co-directed the fifth film in the ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' film series, ''
Vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or school or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for sp ...
'' (2015). The duo received co-writer credits for ''Spider-Man: Homecoming'' (2017) with other screenwriters, which was met with critical and financial success; and they co-directed the 2018 black comedy ''Game Night'', which also met with critical and financial success. The next film written and directed by the pair, ''Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves'', was a critical success. Their next film will be ''Mayday,'' an original feature for Skydance and Apple penned and directed by Goldstein & Daley that stars
Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian and American actor, producer and businessman. Known for starring in comedic and superhero films, he was the List of highest-paid film actors, world's second-highest-paid actor in 202 ...
and
Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh ( ; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Reading, Berkshire, Branagh trained at RADA in London and served as its president from 2015 to 2024. List of award ...
. Prior to his feature film career, Goldstein wrote for numerous television sitcoms, including '' The PJs'' starring
Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...
, ''
The Geena Davis Show ''The Geena Davis Show'' is an American sitcom television series created by Terri Minsky starring Geena Davis. The show aired for one season on ABC from October 10, 2000, to July 10, 2001, during the 2000–01 U.S. television season. Plot ...
'', '' Good Morning Miami'', '' Four Kings'', and '' The New Adventures of Old Christine''.


Personal life

Born in New York City, Goldstein moved to Beachwood, Ohio, in 1980, where he graduated from Beachwood High School in 1986. He attended the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
and then
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
, graduating in 1995. He worked for two years as a corporate litigator at the New York office of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue. Goldstein lives in
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, ...
with his wife, novelist Adena Halpern, who he married in 2007.


Career

Finding the legal profession less than fulfilling, he moved to Los Angeles in 1998 to pursue a career in comedy writing. Shortly thereafter, he began writing for network television comedies and eventually films. In 2007, in collaboration with his writing partner, John Francis Daley, Goldstein sold his first film script, ''The $40,000 Man'', to
New Line Cinema New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...
. Since that first sale, Goldstein and Daley have been engaged on a number of other feature projects, including ''Hours of Fun'', '' The Incredible Burt Wonderstone'', starring Steve Carell and
Jim Carrey James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian and American actor and comedian. Known primarily for his energetic slapstick performances, he has received two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for BAFTA Awards and ...
, ''Cal of the Wild'' for
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
and '' DreamWorks'', and an adaptation of the documentary ''Of All the Things'' for Warner Bros. Pictures, also with Steve Carell set to play the lead. New Line's ''
Horrible Bosses ''Horrible Bosses'' is a 2011 American black comedy crime film directed by Seth Gordon, written by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, and Jonathan Goldstein, from a story by Markowitz. It stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, ...
'' was released on July 8, 2011, and has made over $200 million in worldwide box office. In 2009, the team were hired to rewrite the sequel to the animated film, ''
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ''Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'' is a children's book written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett. It was first published in 1978 by Atheneum Books, followed by a 1982 trade paperback edition from sister company Aladdin Pap ...
''. Goldstein and Daley co-wrote and directed their script for ''
Vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or school or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for sp ...
'', a follow-up to the 1983 comedy film ''
National Lampoon's Vacation ''National Lampoon's Vacation'', sometimes referred to as simply ''Vacation'', is a 1983 American black comedy road film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Imogene Coca, Randy Quaid, John Candy, and Chris ...
''.
Ed Helms Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor, musician and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's '' The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sit ...
played the adult Rusty Griswold. The film grossed $104 million in worldwide box office off a budget of $32 million. Goldstein and Daley wrote the screenplay for the 2017 film '' Spider-Man: Homecoming'', and were both considered to direct before
Jon Watts Jonathan Watts (born June 28, 1981) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man in film, ''Spider-Man'' films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU): ''Spider-Man: Homecoming, Homec ...
was hired. Goldstein and Daley directed the 2018 black comedy '' Game Night'', based on a screenplay by Mark Perez which they rewrote. The film, starring
Jason Bateman Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox / Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama s ...
and Rachel McAdams, "earned a raft of glowing reviews for its whip-smart script, energetic performances, and deliberate avoidance of modern comedy's ubiquitous tropes," and grossed $117 million at the worldwide box office, versus a $37 million budget. While they did not receive screenwriter credit, they later said they rewrote "almost all of the original script's dialogue, totally overhauled the characters — most notably a creepy cop portrayed by
Jesse Plemons Jesse Plemons (; born April 2, 1988) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and achieved a breakthrough with his role as Landry Clarke in the NBC drama series '' Friday Night Lights'' (2006–2011). He subsequently portra ...
— and comprehensively reworked the original script's third act." In 2018, it was announced that the filmmaking duo would direct a
film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
of
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 ...
' ''The Flash'' for the
DC Extended Universe The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on characters that appear in American comic books published by DC Comic ...
, but it was announced in July that they have left the project. Despite this, both Goldstein and Daley received story by credit alongside Joby Harold. In 2019, it was announced that Goldstein and Daley were in talks be directing the reboot of '' Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves'' (2023). In January 2020, it was announced that, in addition to directing, they would be writing a new draft of the screenplay. As of May 11, 2023, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has grossed $91.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $111.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $203 million.


Filmography

Short film Feature film Television


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldstein, Jonathan American male screenwriters American comedy film directors Harvard Law School alumni Hugo Award–winning writers Living people 1968 births University of Michigan alumni Screenwriters from New York City New York (state) lawyers Sony Pictures Animation people