Duncan Jones

{{short description|British director, producer, screenwriter (born 1971)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Duncan Jones

| image = Duncan Jones by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg

| caption = Jones in 2015

| birth_name = Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1971|5|30|df=y}}

| birth_place = Bromley, London, England

| occupation = {{hlist|Director|producer|screenwriter}}

| alma_mater = {{ubl|College of Wooster|London Film School}}

| years_active = 2002–present

| notable_works = {{Ubl

| Moon

| Source Code

| Warcraft

}}

| spouse = {{marriage|Rodene Ronquillo|6 November 2012}}

| children = 2

| father = David Bowie

| mother = Angie Bowie

}}

Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones (born 30 May 1971) is a British film director, film producer and screenwriter. He directed the films Moon (2009), Source Code (2011), Warcraft (2016), and Mute (2018). For Moon, he won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. He is the son of English singer-songwriter David Bowie and Cypriot-born American model, actress, and journalist Angie Bowie.

Early life

Jones was born at Bromley Hospital in Bromley, London, on 30 May 1971,{{cite book | last = Buckley | first = David | title = Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vk-I_ZM_PfwC&pg=PA90 | edition = Revised & Updated | orig-year = 1999 | year = 2005 | publisher = Virgin Publishing | location = London | isbn = 0-7535-1002-2 | page = 90 | quote = On 30 May 1971, Bowie's son, Duncan Zowie Jones, was born in Bromley Hospital.}} the first child of English singer-songwriter and musician David Bowie (1947–2016) and his first wife, Angela "Angie" Bowie (née Barnett), an American model and actress.[http://www.angiebowie.net/Angies%20Bio.htm ANGIE BOWIE – BIOGRAPHY] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710124726/http://www.angiebowie.net/Angies%20Bio.htm |date=10 July 2017 }}. angiebowie.net His maternal grandfather, George, was a United States Army veteran and mining engineer who ran a mill for the Cyprus Mines Corporation, while his maternal grandmother, Helena, was a naturalised Canadian. His mother was born and raised in Cyprus,{{cite web |url=http://www.angiebowie.net/Old%20Web%20Pages/cyprus.html |title=Cyprus: Land of Passion |last1=Bowie |first1=Angie |date=2000 |website=angiebowie.net |publisher=Angie Bowie |access-date=20 September 2016 |archive-date=20 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090520033929/http://www.angiebowie.net/Old%20Web%20Pages/cyprus.html |url-status=dead }} and has Polish ancestry.Bowie, Angela. Backstage Passes, pp. 29–30 His birth prompted his father to write "Kooks" for his 1971 album Hunky Dory.Kevin Cann (2010). Any Day Now – David Bowie: The London Years: 1947–1974: p. 218

Mostly raised by his father David and his Scottish nanny, Marion Skene,{{cite tweet|last=Jones|first=Duncan|title= Also lost a most incredible woman, Marion Skene, to cancer last week. She raised me. Without her, who knows what kind of a mess I'd be.|user=manmademoon|number=845053720329019392| date=23 March 2017 | access-date=12 December 2021}} Jones spent time growing up in London, Berlin, and Vevey in Switzerland. He attended the first and second grade at the Commonwealth-American School in Lausanne. When his parents divorced in February 1980, his father was granted custody of eight-year-old Jones (who was then known as "Zowie Bowie" to rhyme with his father's stage name) and he visited his mother on school holidays until ending contact with her at age 13.{{cite web|url=http://wtfpod.libsyn.com/episode-892-duncan-jones-brendon-small|title=WTF with Marc Maron Podcast: Episode 892 – Duncan Jones / Brendon Small|website=wtfpod.libsyn.com|access-date=22 February 2018}} At age 14, he enrolled in the Scottish co-educational boarding school Gordonstoun. At the age of 12, he decided that he preferred to be called "Joey", and used this nickname until shortening it to "Joe" in his later teen years. The press reported that he went by "Joe" in 1992 when attending his father's wedding to fashion model Iman, where he was the best man.{{cite web|url=http://www.bowiewonderworld.com/press/press90.htm#Hello |title=David Bowie Wonderworld: Press Archives 90s |publisher=Bowiewonderworld.com |access-date=12 January 2016}} He reverted to his birth name around the age of 18.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/movies/07itzk.html?scp=7&sq=angela%20bowie&st=cse | work=The New York Times | title=Son of Major Tom, at Ground Control | first=Dave | last=Itzkoff | date=7 June 2009 | access-date=1 May 2010}}

Jones is the half-brother of Alexandria "Lexi" Jones (born 2000), the daughter of his father and his father's second wife, Iman. He is also the half-brother of Stacia Larranna Celeste Lipka (born 1980) from his mother's relationship with musician Andrew Lipka, better known as Drew Blood. He has a stepsister, Zulekha Haywood (born 1978), who is the daughter of Iman and former NBA basketball player Spencer Haywood, Iman's second husband.

By 1995, Jones graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the College of Wooster. He then pursued a PhD degree at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, but left before completion to attend London Film School, where he then graduated in 2001.[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jul/19/observer-profile-duncan-jones-moon "Duncan Jones: Creating his own space odyssey".]. The Guardian. Retrieved 14 January 2016

Career

File:Duncan Jones and David Bowie at the premiere of Moon.jpg in 2009]]

Jones visited the film set of Labyrinth while his father was filming, and worked for the Jim Henson Creature Shop afterwards. {{Cite web |date=2012-04-05 |title=Starman: How Duncan Jones made it on his own |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/starman-how-duncan-jones-made-it-on-his-own-6751150.html |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}

Jones was one of many cameramen at his father's widely televised 50th birthday party directed by Englishman Tim Pope at Madison Square Garden in 1997 and also at two BowieNet concerts at Roseland Ballroom in New York City in June 2000. He was also the in-game cinematics director for the political simulator Republic: The Revolution, as well as scripting elements of the game.{{cite web|last=Adams |first=Sam |url= https://www.avclub.com/duncan-jones-1798224969 |title=Duncan Jones |publisher=The A.V. Club |date=8 April 2011 |access-date=12 December 2021}}

Jones directed the 2006 campaign for the French Connection fashion label. The concept of 'Fashion vs Style' was to re-invigorate the brand and move it away from the former incarnation of FCUK, which style pundits believed had become tired and overused.{{cite news | last = Akbar | first = Arifa | title = FCUK, off: fashion label decides to rest 'tired' logo | work = The Independent, UK | date = 16 August 2004 | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/fcuk-off--fashion-label-decides-to-rest-tired-logo-556767.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110117081705/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/fcuk-off--fashion-label-decides-to-rest-tired-logo-556767.html| url-status = dead| archive-date = 17 January 2011| location=London}}{{cite news | last = Sweney | first = Mark | title = French Connection and Beattie part company | work = The Guardian | date = 6 July 2006 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/jul/06/advertising| location=London}} The advert debuted in the week ending 20 February 2006 and featured two women (representing fashion and style) fighting and briefly kissing each other. The advertisement generated 127 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority.

Jones's first feature film, Moon, was nominated for seven British Independent Film Awards in 2009, and won two, Best British Independent Film, and the Douglas Hickox Award for Best British Director on their debut feature. It was also nominated for two BAFTA Awards at the 2010 ceremony, winning Jones the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. The film has received 19 other nominations from film festivals and societies, including the BAFTA Carl Foreman Award.

He directed the Summit Entertainment project Source Code,{{cite web|url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/34456/will-jake-gyllenhaal-crack-duncan-jones-source-code|title=Will Jake Gyllenhaal Crack Duncan Jones' Source Code?|date=8 June 2012|publisher=DreadCentral}} a science-fiction thriller from Vendome Pictures, which was produced by Mark Gordon. Source Code was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 26{{nbsp}}July 2011 in the United States.

Jones directed and co-wrote Warcraft, based on the video game series of the same name, which was released in the summer of 2016.{{cite web|author=Borys Kit |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/warcraft-movie-lands-source-code-416956 |title='Warcraft' Movie Lands 'Source Code' Director (Exclusive) |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=30 January 2013 |access-date=12 January 2016}} His next film would return to the science fiction genre and be called Mute, starring Alexander Skarsgård and Paul Rudd. Jones had been developing the project for years and described it as a "spiritual sequel" to Moon, and was inspired by Ridley Scott's Blade Runner.[https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/exclusive-duncan-jones-talks-mute/ "Duncan Jones Talks Mute"]. Empire. Retrieved 14 January 2016 The film, set in Berlin forty years in the future, follows a mute bartender investigating his lover's disappearance.{{cite news|url=https://deadline.com/2015/11/paul-rudd-alexander-skarsgard-board-duncan-jones-mute-lotus-afm-ant-man-warcraft-moon-1201605098/ |title=Paul Rudd & Peter Skarsgard To Star in Duncan Jones' 'Mute' |website=Deadline Hollywood |date=3 November 2015 |access-date=4 November 2015}} The film was produced and released by Netflix, and became available to stream world-wide in February 2018.{{cite web|url=https://www.netflix.com/title/80119233|title=Mute|website=Netflix|access-date=15 March 2018}}

Through his social media, Jones announced in July 2018 that his next project would be a science fiction film, based on the 2000 AD Comics character Rogue Trooper.{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/rogue-trooper-movie-director-duncan-jones/ |title=Rogue Trooper Movie Coming From Warcraft Director Duncan Jones |publisher=Screenrant.com |date=15 July 2018 |access-date=16 December 2018}} In July 2019 he told Entertainment Weekly, "The script is really looking pretty good now. It's getting to the point where we're going to have to start casting and making the thing."{{cite magazine |last1=Collis |first1=Clark |title=Director Duncan Jones gives Rogue Trooper update |url=https://ew.com/movies/2019/07/22/rogue-trooper-duncan-jones-2/ |access-date=31 July 2019 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=22 July 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2024/film/global/aneurin-barnard-hayley-atwell-jack-lowden-duncan-jones-rogue-trooper-1235889907/|title=Aneurin Barnard, Hayley Atwell, Jack Lowden Join Duncan Jones' Science Fiction Movie 'Rogue Trooper' (EXCLUSIVE)|date=29 January 2024 |publisher=Variety}}

Personal life

Jones became engaged to photographer Rodene Ronquillo (b. 1981){{IMDb name|7272888|Rodene Ronquillo}} on 28 June 2012. They married on 6 November 2012. On the same day, Ronquillo was diagnosed with breast cancer. The couple have campaigned for the awareness for the disease and for early diagnosis.{{cite web |url=http://www.fundraiseforbcrf.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1021963&supid=374586538 |title=Cancer Campaign Fundraising Page |publisher=Fundraiseforbcrf.org |date=4 February 2012 |access-date=20 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316081634/http://www.fundraiseforbcrf.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1021963&supid=374586538 |archive-date=16 March 2013 |url-status=dead }} On 10 July 2016, Ronquillo gave birth to their first child, a son.{{cite news|title=David Bowie's son announces late father was to become grandad|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/10/david-bowies-son-announces-late-father-was-to-become-grandad|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=11 February 2016|date=10 February 2016}} Their son was named Stenton David Jones.{{cite web | url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/david-bowie-grandson/ | title=David Bowie's Grandson is Named After Him | date=30 July 2016 }} On 1 October 2017, Jones announced that he and Ronquillo were expecting a second child.{{cite tweet|author=Duncan Jones|user=manmademoon|number=914612299427545088 |title=Incredibly excited to be able to announce that the Jones gang is growing again! @rodeneronquillo cooking up a little... girl!|access-date=16 December 2018}} Jones announced the birth of their daughter{{cite tweet|author=Duncan Jones |user=ManMadeMoon|number=990237327673909248 |title=Speaking of which, our lovely little girl has a name. (We chose it a while ago) Zowie Tala Mabsie Jones. About time SOMEONE made use of my middle name, even if I wasn't ready to!"|date=28 April 2018 |access-date=16 December 2018}} on 18 April 2018.{{cite tweet|author=Duncan Jones |user=ManMadeMoon|number=986543492976406528 |title=I am thrilled to announce that the sequel to the hugely popular Stenton Jones, has finally been unleashed upon the globe! Both @rodeneronquillo and her big, beautiful baby girl are doing amazing!|date=18 April 2018 |access-date=16 December 2018}} He named her Zowie, after his own childhood name.

Filmography

Short film

class="wikitable"
Year ! Title !width=65\|Director !width=65\|Writer ! Co-producer
2002 \| Whistle \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}}

class="wikitable"

Year

! Title

!width=65|Director

!width=65|Writer

! Co-producer

2002

| Whistle

| {{yes}}

Feature film

class="wikitable"
Year ! Title !width=65\|Director !width=65\|Writer !width=65\|Producer
2009 \| Moon \| {{yes}} \| {{partial\|Story}} \| {{no}}
2011 \| Source Code \| {{yes}} \| {{no}} \| {{no}}
2016 \| Warcraft \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| {{no}}
2018 \| Mute \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| {{no}}
2025 \| Rogue Trooper \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}}

class="wikitable"

Year

! Title

!width=65|Director

!width=65|Writer

!width=65|Producer

2009

| Moon

| {{yes}}

| {{partial|Story}}

| {{no}}

2011

| Source Code

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

2016

| Warcraft

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

2018

| Mute

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

2025

| Rogue Trooper

| {{yes}}

Bibliography

class="wikitable"
Year ! Title ! Notes
2020 \|Madi: Once Upon A Time in The Future \|Graphic novel Co-written with Alex De Campi

class="wikitable"

Year

! Title

! Notes

2020

|Madi: Once Upon A Time in The Future

|Graphic novel
Co-written with Alex De Campi

Awards and nominations

class="wikitable"
Year ! Title ! Award/Nomination
2009 \| Moon \| BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer BIFA Douglas Hickox Award Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Gold Fantastic'Arts Jury Prize Fantastic'Arts Special Prize Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form London Film Critics Circle Award for Breakthrough British Filmmaker NBR Award for Best Directorial Debut Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Best First Feature-Length Film Screenplay Nominated—British Independent Film Award for Best Director Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Filmmaker Nominated—Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Best British Director
2011 \| Source Code \| Nominated—Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation Nominated—Ray Bradbury Award

class="wikitable"

Year

! Title

! Award/Nomination

2009

| Moon

| BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
BIFA Douglas Hickox Award
Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Gold
Fantastic'Arts Jury Prize
Fantastic'Arts Special Prize
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form
London Film Critics Circle Award for Breakthrough British Filmmaker
NBR Award for Best Directorial Debut
Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Best First Feature-Length Film Screenplay
Nominated—British Independent Film Award for Best Director
Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Filmmaker
Nominated—Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer
Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Best British Director