Richard Wenk (born May 6, 1956) is an American film screenwriter and director best known for his work on ''The Equalizer'' film series (2014–2023).

Early life

Wenk was born in 1956 in

Metuchen, New Jersey Metuchen ( ) is a suburban Borough (New Jersey), borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough is a commuter town of New York City, located in the heart of the Raritan River, Raritan Valle ...

. He graduated from

Metuchen High School Metuchen High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Metuchen in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Met ...

in 1974, and from the

New York University Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

in 1979.

Career

Wenk worked as an assistant to director

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...

on the 1982 film '' Annie''. In 1984, he was recruited by

New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment, New World Communications Group, Inc., and New World International) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia com ...

producer Donald P. Borchers to write and direct the black comedy film '' Vamp'' (1986). Borchers had been impressed by Wenk's NYU thesis film, a musical vampire comedy short titled ''Dracula Bites the Big Apple''. In 1994, he directed the comedy film '' Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 In. Women''. In 1998, he wrote and directed the film '' Just the Ticket''. In 2002, he directed the slasher film '' Wishcraft''. In 2006, he wrote the script for

Richard Donner Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg; April 24, 1930 – July 5, 2021) was an American film director, producer and actor. Described as "one of Hollywood's most reliable makers of action blockbusters", Donner directed some of the mo ...

's last film '' 16 Blocks''. In 2011, he wrote the action film '' The Mechanic''. By 2012, he wrote

Simon West Simon Alexander West (born 17 July 1961) is an English film director and producer. He has primarily worked in the action genre, most notably as the director of the films ''Con Air'', ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'', ''The Mechanic (2011 film), Th ...

's ensemble action film ''

The Expendables 2 ''The Expendables 2'' is a 2012 American action film directed by Simon West, written by Richard Wenk and Sylvester Stallone and based on a story by Ken Kaufman, David Agosto and Wenk. Brian Tyler returned to score the film. It is the sequel ...

''. In October 2012, he was hired to write the script for the '' Masters of the Universe reboot''. In 2014, he signed on to write the action film '' The Equalizer'' and its two

sequels A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

. In 2016, he wrote the action films '' Countdown'', '' Jack Reacher: Never Go Back'', and ''

The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay, credited to William Roberts, is a remake – in an Old West-style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself init ...

''. In 2017, he was hired to write the script and story for '' Renegades''. In 2018, Wenk was hired to write the reboot of '' Universal Soldier''. In 2021, he wrote the action thriller film '' The Protégé''. In 2023, he wrote the action film '' Fast Charlie''. In 2024, he wrote the superhero film ''

Kraven the Hunter Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Nikolaevich Kravinoff; Russian: Сергей Николаевич Кравинов) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, th ...

'' and the upcoming cop action film '' Lethal Finale''.

Filmography

Accolades

In 2014, for his work on ''The Equalizer'', he was nominated at the

46th NAACP Image Awards The 46th NAACP Image Awards, presented by the NAACP, honored outstanding representations and achievements of people of color in motion pictures, television, music and literature during the 2014 calendar year. The 46th ceremony was hosted by Antho ...

for "Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture". In 2025, for his work on ''Kraven the Hunter'', he was nominated at the 45th Golden Raspberry Awards for " Worst Screenplay".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wenk, Richard 1956 births Living people 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters American male screenwriters Film directors from New Jersey Metuchen High School alumni People from Metuchen, New Jersey Screenwriters from New Jersey Tisch School of the Arts alumni Writers from Middlesex County, New Jersey