Richard Outten is an American

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

who works in both motion pictures and television. Among his writing credits is the 2012

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 ...

adventure film '' Journey 2: The Mysterious Island'', starring

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...

Career

After receiving his MFA from the

USC School of Cinematic Arts The USC School of Cinematic Arts is an academic unit of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. With a history that dates to the first years of Sound film, talkies, the school descends from America's first ...

, he co-authored (with Chris Columbus) the screenplay to the award-winning animated film '' Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland''. Other motion picture credits include '' Lionheart'', helmed by

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning director

Franklin J. Schaffner Franklin James Schaffner (May 30, 1920July 2, 1989) was an American film, television, and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Patton'' (1970), and is known for the films ''Planet of the Apes'' (1968), '' Nicholas and ...

, and ''

Pet Sematary Two ''Pet Sematary Two'' is a 1992 American supernatural horror film directed by Mary Lambert and written by Richard Outten. It is the sequel to the film ''Pet Sematary'' (1989), which was based on Stephen King's 1983 novel of the same name and t ...

''. Based on Outten's early work,

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 ...

selected him to do a rewrite of '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch''. Although he didn't receive credit on the film, the assignment led to an exclusive multiyear writing deal at

, during which he penned several screenplays, including an unproduced sequel to ''

The Goonies ''The Goonies'' is a 1985 American adventure comedy film directed and co-produced by Richard Donner from a screenplay by Chris Columbus based on a story by Steven Spielberg and starring Sean Astin, Josh Brolin (in his film debut), Jeff Cohen ...

''. Among the television series he has written for is the cult favorite ''

The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. ''The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.'', often referred to as just ''Brisco'' or ''Brisco County'', is an American weird western television series created by Jeffrey Boam and Carlton Cuse. It ran for 27 episodes on Fox from August 27, 199 ...

'', which aired on the

Fox Network Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...

. He also shared writing credit on ''Last Rites'', an original TV movie for the Starz/Encore! pay cable network starring

Randy Quaid Randy Randall Rudy Quaid (born October 1, 1950) is an American actor and comedian known for his roles in both serious drama and light comedy. He was nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award for his role in '' The ...

. In March 2009, Outten's original screenplay, ''Mysterious Travels'', was acquired by

Walden Media Walden Media, LLC is an American independent studio that develops, produces and finances feature films and television series for the U.S. and global markets. Its films focus on stories of courage drawn from biographies, historical events, and li ...

and

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, ...

to serve as the basis for the 3-D sequel to ''

Journey to the Center of the Earth ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (), also translated with the variant titles ''A Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' and ''A Journey into the Interior of the Earth'', is a classic science fiction novel written by French novelist Jules Ve ...

'' (2008). He subsequently rewrote the script, customizing the story for the sequel. Titled '' Journey 2: The Mysterious Island'', the film starred

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...

Vanessa Hudgens Vanessa Anne Hudgens ( ; born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer. After making her feature film debut in '' Thirteen'' (2003), Hudgens rose to fame portraying Gabriella Montez in the ''High School Musical'' film series (200 ...

, and

Josh Hutcherson Joshua Ryan Hutcherson (born October 12, 1992) is an American actor. He began acting in the early 2000s and appeared in several commercials and minor film and television roles before gaining prominence in his teenage years with main roles in ' ...

. Released by

in 2012, '' Journey 2'' grossed $335 million at the box office worldwide.Box Office Mojo
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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Outten, Richard Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century births Living people American male screenwriters American male television writers American television writers USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni