Brian Helgeland
{{short description|American screenwriter}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Brian Helgeland
| image = Brian Helgeland (P040213CK-0212) (cropped).jpg
| caption = Helgeland in 2013
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1961|1|17}}
| birth_place = Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
| birth_name = Brian Thomas Helgeland
| notable_works = L.A. Confidential
Mystic River
| occupation = {{hlist|Screenwriter|director|producer}}
| alma_mater = University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Loyola Marymount University
| years_active = 1988–present
| awards = Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
L.A. Confidential (1997)
}}
Brian Thomas Helgeland (born January 17, 1961){{Cite web |last=Rose |first=Mike |date=January 17, 2023|title=Today's famous birthdays list for January 17, 2023 includes celebrities James Earl Jones, Jim Carrey|url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2023/01/todays-famous-birthdays-list-for-january-17-2023-includes-celebrities-james-earl-jones-jim-carrey.html |access-date=January 17, 2023 |website=Cleveland.com}} is an American screenwriter, film producer, and director. He is best known for writing the screenplays for the films L.A. Confidential (1998) and Mystic River (2003).[https://web.archive.org/web/20080128222925/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/93948/Brian-Helgeland Helgeland profile], The New York Times. Retrieved April 11, 2014. He wrote and directed the films 42, a biopic of Jackie Robinson; and Legend, about the rise and fall of the infamous London gangsters, the Kray twins. His work on L.A. Confidential earned him the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Early life
Helgeland was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Norwegian immigrants Aud-Karin and Thomas Helgeland. He was raised in nearby New Bedford, Massachusetts. He majored in English at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth before following his father's work in fishing scallop.
A particularly cold winter day in 1985 made Helgeland consider finding another job. He was fascinated by a book about film schools. With a love for movies, Helgeland decided to seek a career in film. He applied for the film school at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, the only one to agree to accept him in mid-semester.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3601944/Film-makers-on-film-Brian-Helgeland.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London, UK|title=Film-makers on film: Brian Helgeland talks to Mark Monahan about Stuart Rosenberg's Cool Hand Luke (1967)|date=September 6, 2003|access-date=26 April 2010}}[http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19980903/NEWS/309039974&emailAFriend=1&template=printart Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413155223/http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19980903/NEWS/309039974&emailAFriend=1&template=printart |date=April 13, 2014 }}, southcoasttoday.com. Retrieved April 11, 2014{{cite web|url=http://www.bafta.org/press/transcripts/screenwriters-lecture-brian-helgeland|title=Screenwriters' Lecture: Brian Helgeland|date=October 26, 2012 }}
Career
Helgeland's agent arranged a meeting fo him with Rhet Topham, who had an idea for a horror comedy film but was having difficulty writing it. The duo completed 976-EVIL, which they sold for $12,000. 976-EVIL marked the directorial debut of actor Robert Englund, who had portrayed Freddy Krueger in films of that franchise (A Nightmare on Main Street).
He recommended Helgeland to New Line Cinema representatives, who wanted to do a new A Nightmare on Elm Street film. Helgeland was paid $70,000 to write what was released as A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. Both films were released in 1988, with The Dream Master hitting theaters earlier.
Helgeland earned $275,000 for his script for Highway to Hell, which was released in 1992.[https://books.google.com/books?id=oPdHDYy_kWsC&pg=PA44 Million Dollar Babies], New York In 1990, Helgeland and Manny Coto sold a script, The Ticking Man, for $1 million, but the film was never made.{{Cite news| issn = 0458-3035| last = Welkos| first = Robert W.| title = Megabucks Turn to Megabusts| work = Los Angeles Times| access-date = 10 March 2019| date = May 28, 1995| url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-28-ca-7158-story.html}}
In 1998, Helgeland won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for L.A. Confidential, which was based on the 1990 novel of the same name by James Ellroy. That year Helgeland also won a Razzie for The Postman, being one of only three people to have previously achieved this dubious feat (preceded by Alan Menken in 1993 and followed by Sandra Bullock in 2010). Helgeland accepted the Razzie, the fourth person to receive the statuette in person, which was delivered to him in his office at Warner Bros. He keeps the statues of both the Oscar and the Razzie on his mantle as "a reminder of Hollywood's idealistic nature and unrealistic expectations."{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/iaingray/3672211/The_booby_prize_that_beats_the_Oscars/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128203904/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/iaingray/3672211/The_booby_prize_that_beats_the_Oscars/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 28, 2011|first=Iain|last=Gray|title=The booby prize that beats the Oscars|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=January 23, 2007|access-date=10 March 2010}}
File:040213 FLOTUS FilmWorkshop HD.webm film workshop in the State Dining Room of the White House in April 2013.]]
Helgeland wrote and directed the films Payback (1999), A Knight's Tale (2001), The Order (2003), 42 (2013), and Legend (2015). He has worked with director Clint Eastwood twice, in 2002 on Blood Work, and in 2003 on Mystic River, for which he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. He also has written an as-yet-unproduced adaptation of Moby-Dick.
In 2004, Helgeland co-wrote the screenplay for The Bourne Supremacy, for which he was uncredited.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} In early 2008, he was attached to shape the script of the thriller Green Zone{{cite news|author=Michael Fleming|url=https://variety.com/2008/film/markets-festivals/amy-ryan-set-for-greengrass-thriller-2-1117978765/|title=Amy Ryan set for Greengrass thriller|work=Variety|date=January 9, 2008|access-date=22 January 2008}} after screenwriter Tom Stoppard had to drop out.{{cite news|author=Richard Brooks|title=The Bourne Ultimatum – Biteback|work=The Sunday Times|date=August 12, 2007}} He collaborated with director Paul Greengrass, whom he worked with on The Bourne Supremacy, as well as reuniting with actor Matt Damon, who played Jason Bourne/David Webb.
Helgeland wrote the screenplay for the remake of The Taking of Pelham 123, replacing screenwriter David Koepp. The film was released on June 12, 2009.{{cite web|url=https://www.aintitcool.com/node/40175|title=Richard Donner And Mr. Beaks Talk INSIDE MOVES!|publisher=Aint It Cool News|date=February 19, 2009}}
On May 4, 2017, HBO announced that Helgeland was one of four writers working on a potential pilot for a Game of Thrones spin-off. In addition to Helgeland, Carly Wray, Max Borenstein, and Jane Goldman were also working on potential pilots.{{cite news|last1=Holloway|first1=Daniel|title='Game of Thrones' Spinoffs in the Works at HBO|url=https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/game-of-thrones-spinoff-hbo-1202409434/|access-date=May 4, 2017|work=Variety|date=May 4, 2017}} Helgeland has been working and communicating with George R. R. Martin, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire, the series of novels upon which the original series is based.{{cite news|last1=Goldberg|first1=Lesley|title='Game of Thrones': HBO Exploring Four Different Follow-Up Series|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/game-thrones-hbo-exploring-four-follow-up-series-1000251|access-date=May 5, 2017|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=May 4, 2017}} Former Game of Thrones showrunners D. B. Weiss and David Benioff were said to be executive producers for whichever project is picked up by HBO.{{cite magazine|last1=Blistein|first1=Jon|title=HBO Preps 'Game of Thrones' Spin-Off Series With George R.R. Martin|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/hbo-preps-game-of-thrones-spin-off-with-george-rr-martin-w480764|access-date=May 6, 2017|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=May 4, 2017}}
Personal life
Helgeland and his wife Nancy have two sons.{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001338/bio/?ref_=nm_ql_1 | title=Brian Helgeland - Biography | website=IMDb }}{{failed verification|date=April 2025}}
Filmography
= Film =
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title !width=65| Director !width=65| Writer !width=65| Producer ! Notes |
|---|
| rowspan=2|1988
| A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: | {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| 976-EVIL
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| 1992
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | |
| 1995
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| rowspan=3|1997
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay |
| Conspiracy Theory
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| The Postman
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} |
| 1999
| Payback | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| 2001
| {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | Also executive soundtrack producer |
| 2002
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| rowspan=2|2003
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | Nominated - Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay |
| The Order
| {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | |
| 2004
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| rowspan=2|2009
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| rowspan=2|2010
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| Robin Hood
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| 2013
| 42 | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| 2015
| Legend | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| 2020
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| 2023
| {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
| 2024
| {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} | |
= Television =
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Title !Director !Writer !Notes |
| 1989-1990
| {{No}} | {{Yes}} | Episodes: "Crippled Inside", "Mightier Than the Sword" |
| 1996
| {{Yes}} | {{Yes}} | Episode: "A Slight Case of Murder" |
Additional awards
References
{{reflist|40em}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|1338}}
{{Brian Helgeland}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Brian Helgeland
|list =
{{AcademyAwardBestAdaptedScreenplay 1981-2000}}
{{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay}}
{{Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay}}
{{Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay}}
{{Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay}}
{{Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay}}
{{Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay}}
{{Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay}}
{{Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay}}
{{National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay}}
{{San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Adapted Screenplay}}
{{Satellite Award Best Adapted Screenplay}}
{{Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted Screenplay}}
{{Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay}}
{{USC Scripter Awards — Film}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helgeland, Brian}}
Category:20th-century American male writers
Category:20th-century American screenwriters
Category:21st-century American male writers
Category:21st-century American screenwriters
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:American people of Norwegian descent
Category:Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners
Category:Film directors from Rhode Island
Category:Loyola Marymount University alumni
Category:Screenwriters from Massachusetts
Category:Screenwriters from Rhode Island
Category:University of Massachusetts Dartmouth alumni
Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners