Jonathan Goldstein (filmmaker)

Jonathan Michael Goldstein (born September 2, 1968) is an American screenwriter, television writer/producer, and film director. He has written for numerous situation comedies, including The PJ's starring Eddie Murphy, The Geena Davis Show, Good Morning Miami, Four Kings, and The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Jonathan Goldstein
Born	Jonathan Michael Goldstein September 2, 1968 New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Screenwriter, television writer/producer, film director
Years active	1999-present
Spouse(s)	Adena Halpern (m. 2007)

He is known in cinema for his collaborative work with John Francis Daley as a film-making duo. The pair have worked on various projects together. 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 (2014), and also co-wrote/co-directed the fifth film in the National Lampoon's Vacation film series, Vacation (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.

Personal life

Born in New York City, Goldstein attended the University of Michigan, then went on to Harvard Law School, graduating in 1995.[1] He worked for two years as a corporate litigator at the New York office of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue.[2] Goldstein lives in Los Angeles with his wife, novelist Adena Halpern.[3]

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.[4] Since that first sale, Goldstein and Daley have been engaged on a number of other feature projects, including Hours of Fun,[5] The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, starring Steve Carell and Jim Carrey,[6] Cal of the Wild for Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks,[7][8] and an adaptation of the documentary, Of All The Things for Warner Brothers, also with Steve Carell set to play the lead.[9] New Line's Horrible Bosses was released on July 8, 2011 and has made over $200 million in worldwide box office.[10] In 2009, the team were hired to rewrite the sequel to the animated film, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.[11]

Goldstein and Daley co-wrote and directed[12] their script for Vacation, a follow-up to the 1983 comedy film National Lampoon's Vacation. Ed Helms played the adult Rusty Griswold.[13] The film grossed $104 million in worldwide box office off a budget of $32 million.[14]

Goldstein and Daley wrote the screenplay for the 2017 film Spider-Man: Homecoming,[15] and were both considered to direct[16] before Jon Watts was hired.[17]

Goldstein and Daley directed the 2018 black comedy Game Night, based on a screenplay by Mark Perez. The film, starring Jason Bateman 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 — and comprehensively reworked the original script’s third act."[18]

In 2018, it was announced that the filmmaking duo would direct a film adaptation of DC Comics' Flashpoint for the DC Extended Universe,[19] but it was announced in July that they have left the project.

In 2019, it was announced that Goldstein and Daley were in talks be directing the reboot of Dungeons & Dragons (2022).[20] In January 2020, it was announced that, in addition to directing, they would be writing a new draft of the screenplay[21]

Filmography

Collaborated with John Francis Daley

Year	Title	Credited as		Notes
		Director	Writer
2011	Horrible Bosses	No	Yes
2013	The Incredible Burt Wonderstone	No	Yes
	Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2	No	Yes
2014	Horrible Bosses 2	No	Story
2015	Vacation	Yes	Yes	Directorial debut
2017	Spider-Man: Homecoming	No	Yes
2018	Game Night	Yes	No
2022	Dungeons & Dragons	Yes	Yes

Short films

Year	Title	Credited as
		Director	Writer
2001	What Babies Do	Yes	No
2011	Audio Tour	Yes	Yes

References

1. Adena Halpern, Jonathan Goldstein – New York Times
2. Meet the Guys Behind the "Horrible Bosses" | NBC New York
3. adena halpern – pinch me Archived 2011-08-19 at the Wayback Machine
4. NL assembles '$40,000 Man' – The Hollywood Reporter
5. Scott Rudin, Disney have 'Fun' – The Hollywood Reporter
6. Pair to rewrite 'Magician' – The Hollywood Reporter
7. Writers set for DreamWorks' 'Wild' – Entertainment News, DreamWorks SKG, Media – Variety
8. New Line ready for another 'Vacation' – Entertainment News, Los Angeles, Media – Variety
9. https://www.deadline.com/2010/09/steve-carell-taps-scribe-team-to-turn-him-into-a-rock-star/%5D%5B%5D
10. Scribes tapped for 'Bosses' – The Hollywood Reporter
11. With sequel, 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs' looks to continue its rain – latimes.com
12. Chapman, Glen. "National Lampoon's Vacation reboot/sequel latest". www.denofgeek.com. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
13. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ed-helms-vacation-reboot-office-348058
14. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=newline15.htm
15. "Back To Walley World: The Griswolds Go On 'Vacation' Again". NPR. July 25, 2015. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
16. Fleming Jr., Mike (June 2, 2015). "'Spider-Man' Director Short List Topped By Ted Melfi & Jonathan Levine". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 2, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
17. "Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios Find Their 'Spider-Man' Star and Director". Marvel.com. June 23, 2015. Archived from the original on June 24, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
18. Lee, Chris (21 June 2018). "How Game Night Broke Modern Comedy's Rules to Win at the Box Office". Vulture.com. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
19. Chitwood, Adam (2018-02-12). "Exclusive: 'Flashpoint' Directors Reveal How They Landed the Job". Collider. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
20. Kroll, Justin (2019-07-30). "Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley in Talks to Direct 'Dungeons & Dragons' Movie". Variety. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
21. Goldstein, Jonathan (2020-01-21). "This just in... #dndpic.twitter.com/gBVNhwSi8h". @JM_Goldstein. Retrieved 2020-05-15.

External links

• Jonathan M. Goldstein at IMDb