Joe Dante

Dante was born in Morristown, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Livingston. His father was a professional golfer who encouraged him to play sports; however, Dante was more interested in drawing cartoons and frequenting Saturday matinees at the cinema.{{cite web|title=Joe Dante interview: Meet a matinee idol|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/joe-dante-interview-meet-matinee-idol-2443699|date=June 18, 2009|access-date=March 13, 2023|website=The Scotsman}} Dante was 12 when Famous Monsters of Filmland, a magazine dedicated to horror films, came onto news shelves. He soon wrote to the magazine with reviews of certain horror films, which he did for a number of years.{{cite web | url=https://itcamefromblog.com/2022/12/05/joe-dante-famous-monster-kid/ | title=Joe Dante: Famous Monster Kid | date=December 5, 2022 }}{{sfn|Dante, Jr.|1962|p=71}}

Dante had originally planned on becoming a cartoonist, but was told that it wasn't a real art form and that he should try something else. While attending the Philadelphia College of Art, Dante realized he was more inclined toward filmmaking:{{cite web|url=http://www.fangoria.com/features/21-fearful-features/4250-a-career-spanning-conversation-with-joe-dante.html|title=A Career-Spanning Conversation with Joe Dante|publisher=Fangoria|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091013163302/http://www.fangoria.com/features/21-fearful-features/4250-a-career-spanning-conversation-with-joe-dante.html|archive-date=October 13, 2009|df=mdy-all}}

{{blockquote|"I was told that cartooning isn't an art form and if I was smart I would take something else. So I took film. This was back in the days when everything was black and white, 16mm, silent – we were essentially making underground art films, so I can't say my filmmaking acumen derived from my teachings at the Philadelphia College of Art. Almost all of it came from the school of Roger Corman"}}

In his free time as a student, Dante began assembling The Movie Orgy, an epic collection of B movie clips, 16mm films, cartoons, commercials, and trailers that was seamlessly edited together into one 7-hour compilation.

{{quote box

| width = 25em

| align = right

| bgcolor = MistyRose

| tstyle = font-size:100%

| source = —Joe Dante

| quote = I didn't really learn much about making films, but I did spend as much time as I could at the local grindhouses where I caught up with old movies from the '30s on, most of which I could never have seen elsewhere. When it came time to try actual movie directing, I found I had a wellspring of images and ideas in my head to draw on.

}}

After a stint as a film reviewer, Dante began his filmmaking apprenticeship in 1974 when producer Roger Corman offered him a job in the trailer-cutting department at New World Pictures, where he edited the trailers for such films as Cover Girl Models and Amarcord.{{cite web|last=Klein|first=Joshua|title=Joe Dante - The A.V. Club|url=http://www.avclub.com/content/node/22808|date=November 29, 2000|access-date=February 18, 2023|website=The A.V. Club|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011075531/http://www.avclub.com/content/node/22808 |archive-date=October 11, 2007 }}{{cite web|last=Levy|first=Rob|title=A Conversation With Joe Dante|url=https://www.needcoffee.com/2012/11/08/joe-dante-interview/|website=Needcoffee.com|date=8 November 2012|access-date=19 April 2023}} Other established directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and Peter Bogdanovich had already emerged from Corman's de-facto film school.

In 1975, Dante moved up to directing when he collaborated with fellow Corman school alumni Allan Arkush to make the satirical exploitation film Hollywood Boulevard. The film was conceived when Corman made a bet that he could produce a movie within ten days on a budget of only $54,000 ({{Inflation|US|54000|1975|fmt=eq}}).{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} Although producer John Davison reported the budget was approximately $50,000,{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56010|work=AFI Catalog of Feature Films|title=AFI|Catalog - Hollywood Boulevard|publisher=American Film Institute|access-date=March 8, 2023}} it was the cheapest made by New World Pictures.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} The filmmakers achieved this by coming up with a story about a B movie studio which could incorporate footage from other movies that Corman owned.

Two years later, Dante directed Piranha, written by John Sayles. The film was shot in Texas "in a rush" on a budget of $600,000, and was considered quite ambitious for the time and cost. Dante, who was convinced the film would be a disaster, spent a month in the editing room. People came to visit him, but as Dante recalled he was in "such a fog" that he didn't even recognize who they were at first.{{cite web|last=Cairns|first=David|title="I want to give you a piece of my mind": Interview with Joe Dante (Part 1)|url=https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/i-want-to-give-you-a-piece-of-my-mind-interview-with-joe-dante-part-1|date=July 6, 2009|access-date=March 12, 2023|website=Mubi}} The film won the attention of Steven Spielberg who, unbeknownst to Dante, prevented Universal from blocking the film's release, convincing them that Piranha was a parody and that it wasn't in competition with Jaws 2.

In 1979, Dante directed some scenes of Rock 'n' Roll High School when Allan Arkush fell ill due to exhaustion, but remains uncredited. Dante also helped plot the premise of the film with Arkush.{{cite web|last=Sherman|first=Craig|title=Take Three: classic Corman film, examined|url=http://artseditor.com/site/take-three/|date=July 1, 2001|access-date=March 12, 2023|website=ArtsEditor}}

Dante again collaborated with John Sayles when he enlisted him to rewrite the previously adapted draft of Gary Brandner's werewolf tale The Howling. Sayles rewrote the script with the same self-aware, satirical tone that he gave Piranha, and his finished script bears only a slight resemblance to Brandner's novel.{{cite web |url=http://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/interviews/joedante.shtml |title=Howl Play: Interview with Joe Dante |work=Combustible Celluloid |date=September 30, 2003 |first=Jeffrey M. |last=Anderson |access-date=2016-08-05}} Dante said that at the time he made The Howling, werewolves were considered by many to be "corny and old hat". His approach was to disguise it as long as possible and make it look like a slasher film — which was a lot more popular at the time — "and then bring in the supernatural elements slowly so that the audience could get acclimated and not immediately reject it as something old-fashioned."{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/06/17/joe-dante-the-howling-horror-movie/2432555/|title=Joe Dante looks back on the werewolves of 'The Howling'|first=Truitt|last= Brian|date=June 17, 2013|access-date=March 12, 2023|website=USA Today}} The film's special effects, which at the time were considered state-of-the-art, were completed by Rob Bottin after Rick Baker left to work on An American Werewolf in London.

Dante had been previously offered the chance to direct Airplane! by Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. Although he turned it down, Dante agreed to direct two episodes of their police procedural spoof Police Squad!, which was his first experience shooting something on a studio lot.{{cite web|last=Brew|first=Simon|title=The Den of Geek interview: Joe Dante|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-den-of-geek-interview-joe-dante/|date=February 21, 2008|access-date=May 20, 2023|website=Den of Geek}}

{{quote box

| width = 376px

| align = right

| bgcolor = cornsilk

| tstyle = font-size:100%

| source = —Joe Dante{{cite web|title=Joe Dante on why Gremlins is the movie he'll be remembered for|url=https://lwlies.com/interviews/joe-dante-gremlins/|date=December 24, 2017|access-date=March 12, 2023|website=Little White Lies}}

| quote = It's the movie I'm going to be remembered for. If I get hit by a bus tomorrow, the headline is going to be "Gremlins Director Hit By Bus". I'll never do something that'll outlast that in terms of the public image of who I am – which is fine with me. It's not my favorite movie that I've ever made, but I'm perfectly happy with it and I think it does what it was supposed to do. It's strange that it's outlasted so many other pictures that were much more prestigious at the time. It expresses my personality too, which is the one thing that's the most difficult to get across in an expensive film.

}}

Due to their work on The Howling, Dante and producer Michael Finnell received the opportunity to make the film Gremlins by Steven Spielberg.{{cite AV media |people=Dante, Joe |date=2002 |title=Steven Spielberg presents Gremlins Special edition audio commentary |medium=DVD |publisher=Warner Home Video}} Spielberg also brought Dante on as one of the directors on John Landis' Twilight Zone: The Movie. Dante's segment, a remake of the original Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life",{{cite web |url=https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/747652-interview-joe-dante-reflects-80s-twilight-zone-episode-shadow-man|title=Interview: Joe Dante Reflects on '80's Twilight Zone Episode, 'The Shadow Man'|last=Alexander|first=Chris|date=2015-11-05}} features cartoon-style special effects, revolving around a woman played by Kathleen Quinlan who is 'adopted' by an omnipotent boy. Dante also took over editing duties on George Miller's segment of the film, after he left the project feeling repulsed by the news of the fatal helicopter accident.{{cite web|last=Hamad|first=Marwa|title=Deadliest horror movies eve made: Films surrounded by real-life death|url=https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/hollywood/deadliest-horror-movies-ever-made-films-surrounded-by-real-life-death-1.74669152|publisher=Hollywood — Gulf News|date=19 October 2020|access-date=3 June 2023}} Chris Columbus' original draft of Gremlins went through several rewrites before a shooting script was finalized. According to Dante, it was a gruelling shoot ("The whole thing was so exhausting") and once the design of the gremlins were finalized, the studio's reaction was divisive. The film follows a teenager, played by Zach Galligan, who inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town. It proved to be one of Dante's biggest hits to date, being the third highest-grossing film of 1984.{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1984&p=.htm|title=1984 Domestic Grosses|website=Box Office Mojo|access-date=28 April 2020}} "I'd never seen a reaction like that," Dante said of the film's first preview. "They thought it was the greatest thing ever and Warner Brothers was I think shocked, frankly, by how popular the picture became."

After the success of Gremlins, Dante took on the offer to direct Explorers, about a group of friends who build a working spacecraft and encounter extraterrestrial life. Dante liked the script, but felt the film needed a better third act. After being denied extra time by Paramount executives, Dante and the film's writer, Eric Luke, then improvised the story whilst filming commenced.{{YouTube|id=KgfhkqVS8no|title=Joe Dante speaks about Explorers at the New Beverly - Pt 1/2}} In the spring of 1985, Paramount changed the film's initial release date from late August to early July, telling Dante and the editors to stop editing and deliver a shorter rough cut. As a result, about an hour and a half worth of footage was left on the editing room floor. Explorers marked the film debuts of both Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix, and has only grown in its reputation over time, developing a cult following.{{cite web|url=http://www.thevine.com.au/entertainment/top10/the-top-10-cult-films-of-the-80s20081112.aspx|title=The Top 10 Cult Films of the 80s|access-date=February 28, 2011|work=TheVine.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706112642/http://www.thevine.com.au/entertainment/top10/the-top-10-cult-films-of-the-80s20081112.aspx|archive-date=July 6, 2011|df=mdy-all}} Dante reflected on the film by saying that he is appreciative of the warm reception it has earned over the years, but continued by saying "the problem is for me is that the movie you'll see is not the movie I wanted to make. It's the movie I got to make up to a certain point and then had to stop. It's hard for me to look at it, cause it's not the film I quite had in mind." The missing and cut scenes are presumably lost, as Dante tried searching for them in recent years.

In the mid-1980s, Dante was offered the script of Innerspace written by Chip Proser, who called it "a rip off of Fantastic Voyage". Dante initially turned the film down until the script was later rewritten as a comedy by Jeffrey Boam. Dante said he had a "wonderful experience" making Innerspace, mainly because of the cast which included actors Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, and Meg Ryan among others. However, after one particular day of filming, Dante recalled that studio executives from Warner Brothers had invited him out to lunch and told him that what he was doing was not funny and described Short as being "not very attractive", wanting to recast the role. While this conversation left him with a lot of anxiety, Dante decided to "plow on" and just make the movie he always intended to make. Despite successful test screenings, the film ended up flopping at the box office in the summer of 1987. Dante said this was because the studio did not know how to promote it and that the original poster failed to include the movie's actors on it.{{cite web|title=Joe Dante Talks About the Making of 'Innerspace' at New Beverly Cinema|url=https://theultimaterabbit.com/2019/09/01/joe-dante-talks-about-the-making-of-innerspace-at-new-beverly-cinema/|date=September 1, 2019|access-date=March 12, 2023|website=The Ultimate Rabbit}}

In 1988, Dante agreed to direct the black comedy The 'Burbs, intrigued by its premise and the blending of real-life situations with elements of the supernatural. Dante and producers Larry Brezner and Michael Finnell agreed that Tom Hanks would be the most suitable actor to portray the married Ray Peterson, a suburban homeowner who tries to introduce excitement into his life by investigating the activities of his mysterious neighbors. Dante referred to Hanks as "the reigning everyman, a guy that everybody can identify with", comparing him to James Stewart. Production on The 'Burbs was filmed in chronological order (due to the 1988 writer's strike) over the course of ten weeks, mainly on the Colonial Street backlot at Universal Studios. "There was a lot of temptation to broaden it and go outside the neighborhood, but it seemed to violate the spirit of the piece," Dante said, "It's almost the kind of thing that could be a stage play except that you could never do on-stage what we've done in this movie."{{cite book|last1=Pfeiffer|first1=Lee|last2=Lewis|first2=Michael|year=1996|title=The Films of Tom Hanks|isbn=0806517174|series=Citadel Film|publisher=Citadel Press|location=New York|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/filmsoftomhanks00pfei}}

Dante was asked many times to helm a sequel to Gremlins, due to its financial success. Dante declined, because he saw that story as having a proper ending, and thus a sequel would only be meant to be profitable. The studio decided to proceed without him, approaching various directors and writers. Storylines considered included sending the gremlins to Las Vegas or even into outer space. After those ideas fell through, the studio returned to Dante, who agreed to make the sequel after receiving the rare promise of having complete creative control over the movie as well as a budget tripling that of the original film.{{cite video |people=DVD commentary; Special edition|date=2002 |title= Steven Spielberg presents Gremlins.|medium=DVD |publisher=Warner Home Video }} Since Chris Columbus was not available to write the sequel's script at the time, Dante brought on screenwriter Charles S. Haas to help plot the film.{{cite web|last=Buss|first=Andrew|title=An Oral History of Gremlins 2: The New Batch|url=https://consequence.net/2020/06/gremlins-2-oral-history/3/|website=consequence.net|date=15 June 2020|access-date=17 February 2023}} Dante later claimed it was the film into which he had put the most of his personal influence. He referred to it as "one of the more unconventional studio pictures ever," imagining it as a satire of Gremlins and sequels in general,{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/gremlins-2-new-batch-30-anniversary-joe-dante-a9563586.html|title=How Gremlins 2 made a mockery of Hollywood sequels|date=June 14, 2020|website=The Independent}} resulting in a film with several meta-references and self-referential humor. Both Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates returned to star in the film. It also features several guest stars, including Christopher Lee as a mad scientist. The film was released to theaters in the Summer of 1990 but did not perform as well at the box office as the original.

Charles S. Haas wrote two more films for Dante; one an unproduced script about Chuck Jones' early years at Termite Terrace{{cite web|last=Fischer|first=William|url=https://collider.com/termite-terrace-looney-tunes-movie-uncompleted-why-history-joe-dante-chuck-jones/|title=Before 'Space Jam', There Was 'Termite Terrace' — Joe Dante's Unmade Tribute to 'Looney Tunes'|website=Collider|date=22 July 2021|access-date=25 August 2022}} and the other, Matinee about the Cuban Missile Crisis. In it, John Goodman stars as William Castle-type filmmaker Lawrence Woolsey, who specializes in horror and sci-fi B movies. Originally written by Jerico Stone, Dante said his draft was "quite different than the film that eventually emerged."{{cite web|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s3208dant.html|title=Joe Dante interviewed on the DVD release of Matinee|last=Erickson|first=Glenn|date=May 11, 2010|website=DVDtalk|access-date=March 12, 2022}} The film opened in early 1993 and received positive reviews, but failed to turn a profit.

From 1993 to 1994, Dante was attached as the director of The Phantom, developing a draft of the script together with Jeffrey Boam, which was originally tongue-in-cheek in tone. According to Dante, right when the film was to begin shooting, Paramount pulled the plug on the film over its budget. Later, it was put back into production, with the script rewritten under a new director who made it serious, despite the script's humorous tone. Dante ended up with an executive producer credit.

In 1994, Dante directed the television film Runaway Daughters (a loose remake of the 1956 film), that aired as part of the anthology series Rebel Highway which paid homage to 1950s "drive-in classic" B movies by revamping them "with a '90s edge". Dante also directed the 1997 made-for-television film The Second Civil War, a social satire about anti-immigration. The film was allegedly troubled with a "tremendous amount of interference during post-production" by a studio executive at HBO.

When Dante began pre-production work for Small Soldiers, a film about toy action figures who come to life, he was told to make an "edgy picture for teenagers." Later, after Burger King became a sponsor to promote the film, he was told to soften it as a "kiddie movie" and as a result, several of the action and explosion scenes were edited out.{{cite web|last=Abrams|first=Simon|title=Like Going to Church: Joe Dante on "The Movie Orgy"|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/like-going-to-church-joe-dante-on-the-movie-orgy|date=August 8, 2016|website=rogerebert.com|access-date=June 20, 2024}} Dante also claimed there were 12 uncredited writers who did work on the film over the course of five years. When released in 1998, it received mixed reviews and was a moderate box office success.

Dante directed the 2003 live-action/animation hybrid Looney Tunes: Back in Action.{{cite web|url=http://animatedviews.com/2012/artist-bob-camp-recalls-the-ill-fated-space-jam-2/ |title=Artist Bob Camp recalls the ill-fated "Space Jam 2" |publisher=Animated Views |date=November 30, 2012 |access-date=June 18, 2014}} The project was developed several other times before eventually being offered to Dante. He agreed to direct the film to pay tribute to his idol Chuck Jones, and as somewhat of a placeholder for his unmade biographical comedy Termite Terrace. He and screenwriter Larry Doyle reportedly wanted the film to be the "anti-Space Jam" as Dante disliked how that film represented the Looney Tunes brand and personalities. While feeling that he and the film's animation director Eric Goldberg had managed to preserve the original personalities of the characters, the film's opening, middle and ending are different from what Dante initially envisioned. Dante stated that he had no creative freedom on the project, calling the experience "the longest year and a half of my life." According to Dante, the studio executives grew tired of the film's jokes and wanted them to be changed. 25 gag writers were then brought in to try to write jokes that were short enough for the voice actors to dub into an animated character's mouth. Despite this, Doyle remained the film's only credited writer.{{cite news |last=Sachs |first=Ben |title=The orgiast: an interview with Joe Dante (part one) |url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2012/08/08/the-orgiast-an-interview-with-joe-dante-part-one |work=Chicago Reader |date=August 8, 2012 |access-date=February 13, 2016}}

Following his experience working on Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Dante took a brief hiatus from movies, instead returning to television, directing two episodes of the horror anthology series Masters of Horror.{{cite web|url=http://www.calgarysun.com/cgi-bin/publish.cgi?p=150056&x=articles&s=showbiz|title=Masters of misery|last=Kirkland|first=Bruce|date=August 11, 2006|publisher=Calgary Sun}}

In 2007, Dante launched the web series Trailers from Hell,{{cite web|url=http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2007/12/joe-dante-presents-trailers-from-hell/|title=Joe Dante presents Trailers From Hell|date=July 3, 2020 |publisher=Cinefantastique}} which provides commentary by directors, producers and screenwriters on trailers for classic and cult movies. Dante also actively contributes to the website.{{cite web|url=http://trailersfromhell.com/gurus/|title=Gurus: Joe Dante|publisher=Trailers from Hell|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517220822/http://www.trailersfromhell.com/gurus|archive-date=May 17, 2013|df=mdy-all}}

File:Flickr - nicogenin - 66ème Festival de Venise (Mostra) (76).jpg in 2009]]

Dante returned to feature films several years later in 2009 with the independent 3D horror comedy The Hole, which received the Premio Persol award at the Venice Film Festival.{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2009/biz/markets-festivals/hole-wins-venice-3-d-film-prize-1118008567/|title='Hole' wins Venice 3-D film prize: Dante horror pic nabs first ever Premio Persol|publisher=Variety | first=Nick|last=Vivarelli|date=September 14, 2009}} Dante cited Dial M for Murder, Kill, Baby, Kill, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Killer Klowns from Outer Space as influences on the film.{{cite web|last=Wright|first=Benjamin|title=Exclusive: Joe Dante Reveals The 4 Films That Influenced 'The Hole'|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2012/09/exclusive-joe-dante-reveals-the-4-films-that-influenced-the-hole-105480|date=September 28, 2012|access-date=March 8, 2023|website=IndieWire}}

With Roger Corman producing, Dante directed the interactive web series Splatter for Netflix. The series stars Corey Feldman as a rock star seeking revenge on those he thinks have wronged him.{{cite web|url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/34034/netflixs-splatter-launching-october-29th|title=Netflix's Splatter Launching on October 29th|date=May 23, 2012 |publisher=DreadCentral}}

From 2011 to 2017, Dante directed ten episodes of Hawaii Five-0 reboot, which he joked was "to get the rent paid." Also during this decade, various projects Dante was officially involved with struggled with funding. Among them were the anthology film Paris, I'll Kill You, the werewolf feature Monster Love, and the Roger Corman biopic The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes.{{cite web|url=http://www.screenread.de/joe-dante-interview-the-hole/|title=The Movie Orgies of Joe Dante: Trailers, Mummies and The Hole | Interview (english version)|website=screen/read|date=June 16, 2011|access-date=January 12, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221003732/http://www.screenread.de/joe-dante-interview-the-hole/|archive-date=December 21, 2019}}

Subsequently, Dante directed Anton Yelchin and Ashley Greene in Burying the Ex, adapted from Alan Trezza's 2008 short film. Principal photography ran through November–December 2013. The film follows a horror film buff whose controlling girlfriend suddenly dies in a freak accident but when he tries to move on with his life along with his new partner, he discovers that his ex has come back from the dead in the form of a zombie. It was selected to be screened out of competition at the 71st Venice International Film Festival,{{cite web|url=http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/71st-festival/line-up/off-sel/out-of-competition/ |title=International competition of feature films |access-date=10 August 2014 |work=Venice |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728222533/http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/71st-festival/line-up/off-sel/out-of-competition/ |archive-date=July 28, 2014 }}{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2014/07/venice-film-festival-lineup-2014-movie-list-808803/ |title=Venice Film Festival Lineup Announced |access-date=10 August 2014 |website=Deadline Hollywood|date=July 24, 2014 }} and was released theatrically in 2015.

Dante served as executive producer on the independent feature length thriller Dark, starring Whitney Able and Alexandra Breckenridge, directed by Nick Basile. The film, set in New York City during the 2003 blackout, was released by Screen Media Films on June 7, 2016.{{cite web | last = Hipes | first = Patrick | url = https://deadline.com/2016/02/joe-dante-dark-movie-screen-media-1201696072/ | title = Joe Dante-Produced Thriller 'Dark' Alights At Screen Media | date = February 9, 2016 | access-date = May 27, 2016 | website = Deadline Hollywood}}

For years, Dante has tried to make a film about his mentor Corman and the making of his 1967 film The Trip, but has struggled to gather funding for it. Titled The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes, the film went through several permutations over the years, including one starring Colin Firth as Corman.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.filmcomment.com/article/unproduced-and-unfinished-films-l-through-z-a-ongoing-film-comment-project/|title=Unproduced and Unfinished Films L Through Z: An Ongoing Film Comment Project|magazine=Film Comment|date=May–June 2012|volume=48|issue=3}}{{cite web|last=MacNab|first=Geoffrey|title=Corman to cameo in Dante's biopic|url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/corman-to-cameo-in-dantes-biopic/5060269.article|website=Screen Daily|date=September 10, 2013|access-date=July 18, 2023}} In October 2016, Dante directed a live table-reading of the film's script at the Vista Theatre in Los Angeles, which starred Bill Hader as Corman, Jason Ritter as Peter Fonda and Ethan Embry as Jack Nicholson.{{cite news|title=Bill Hader to play Roger Corman in a reading of 'The Man With Kaleidoscope Eyes'|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-bill-hader-roger-corman-kaleidoscope-eyes-20161012-snap-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|first=Mark|last=Olsen|access-date=March 12, 2023|date=October 12, 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2016/10/the-man-with-kaleidoscope-eyes-live-read-bill-hader-roger-corman-vista-theatre-1201736236/|title=The Man With Kaleidoscope Eyes' Live Read: Bill Hader is the Roger Corman the World Needs: Joe Dante's decade-in-development biopic finally got the audience it deserved, thanks to a quality cast and an unbeatable atmosphere|first=Steve|last= Greene|date=October 13, 2016|access-date=March 12, 2023|website=IndieWire}} Corman himself is also slated to appear in the film's ending in a cameo role, which was reported to already have been shot in case Corman died before the film went into production.{{cite web|url=https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/1107452-exclusive-roger-corman-biopic-has-already-shot-a-corman-cameo|title=Exclusive: Roger Corman Biopic Has Already Shot a Corman Cameo|first=Max|last= Evry|date=October 30, 2019|access-date=March 12, 2023|website=ComingSoon.net}} In 2022, the film's script was adapted and published in the form of a graphic novel.{{cite web|url=https://fortyfourclovers.com/2022/08/23/the-man-with-kaleidoscope-eyes-the-greatest-film-not-yet-made/|title=The Man With Kaleidoscope Eyes: The Greatest Film Never Made?|date=August 23, 2022 }} The film has been in its development stage for several years at SpectreVision.{{cite news|last=Rodriguez|first=Alex|url=https://www.thelamron.com/arts-and-entertainment/joe-dante-an-artist-entrapped-in-hollywoods-shadow|title=Joe Dante: An artist entrapped in Hollywood's shadow|newspaper=The Lamron|date=April 19, 2024|access-date=August 7, 2024}}

Dante directed a segment of the 2018 horror anthology film Nightmare Cinema starring Mickey Rourke, which also featured shorts directed by Alejandro Brugués, Mick Garris, Ryūhei Kitamura, and David Slade.{{cite web | last = Boucher | first = Geoff | url = https://deadline.com/2019/05/nightmare-cinema-horror-directors-unite-for-anthology-new-screening-series-1202621621/ | title = 'Nightmare Cinema': Horror Directors Unite For Anthology & New Screening Series | date = May 24, 2019 | access-date = June 26, 2019 | website = Deadline}} The same month of its release, Dante launched his own weekly podcast The Movies That Made Me, with screenwriter Josh Olson as his co-host, where filmmakers and entertainers are brought on to discuss the movies that inspired them.{{cite web|url=https://themoviesthatmademe.simplecast.com/|title=The Movies That Made Me}}{{cite web|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-movies-that-made-me/id1412094313|title=The Movies That Made Me|date=June 13, 2023 }}

File:Joe Dante by Gage Skidmore.jpg]]

In 2020, Dante served as a consultant on the HBO Max prequel series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.{{cite web |last1=Bui |first1=Hoai-Tran |title='Gremlins' Director Joe Dante Will Consult on HBO Max's Animated 'Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai' Series |url=https://www.slashfilm.com/gremlins-joe-dante-secrets-of-the-mogwai-hbo-max/ |website=/Film |date=February 18, 2020}}

In 2024, it was announced that Dante would direct Little Shop of Halloween Horrors, a reboot of Roger Corman's The Little Shop of Horrors, to be produced by Corman alongside Brad Krevoy, CEO of the Motion Picture Corporation of America, and written by Charles S. Haas.{{Cite web|date=March 14, 2024|last=Grobar|first=Matt|url=https://deadline.com/2024/03/little-shop-of-halloween-horrors-joe-dante-roger-corman-1235859850/|title=Joe Dante, Roger Corman & Brad Krevoy Team On 'Little Shop Of Halloween Horrors'|access-date=March 15, 2024|website=Deadline Hollywood}} The following year, Dante updated that, like many of his past projects, the film had too been shelved.{{cite web|last=Felt|first=Kevin|url=https://thedirect.com/article/little-shop-of-horrors-reboot-movie-exclusive|title=Little Shop of Horrors Reboot Movie Gets Shelved Indefinitely (Exclusive)|website=The Direct|date=April 8, 2025|access-date=April 8, 2025}}

Dante has cited Roger Corman, Chuck Jones, Frank Tashlin, Ernst Lubitsch, Mario Bava, James Whale and Jean Cocteau among his major influences.{{cite web|last=Vestby|first=Ethan|title=Joe Dante Talks Returning to His Roots With 'Burying the Ex' and Wide-Ranging Influences|url=https://thefilmstage.com/joe-dante-talks-returning-to-his-roots-with-burying-the-ex-and-wide-ranging-influences/|website=The Film Stage|date=June 18, 2015|access-date=February 19, 2023}}{{cite web|last=King|first=Susan|title=Horrormeister Mario Bava gets a bloody thorough retrospective|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-mar-13-gd-movies13-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|date=March 13, 2008|access-date=February 19, 2023}}

Some of Dante's favorite films include Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be (1942), Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Orson Welles' Touch of Evil (1958), Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter (1955) and James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein (1935).{{cite web|last=Adams|first=Michael|title=FIVE FAVORITE FILMS WITH JOE DANTE|url=https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/Five-Favorite-Films-with-Joe-Dante/|date=August 23, 2010|access-date=February 18, 2023|website=Rotten Tomatoes}} He also loves the 1941 comedy Hellzapoppin', a film from which he frequently steals gags.

The director previously named his top five horror picks as The Innocents, Rosemary's Baby, The Old Dark House, Blood and Black Lace and The Black Cat.{{cite web|last=Fujitani|first=Ryan|title=JOE DANTE'S FIVE FAVORITE HORROR FILMS|url=https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/joe-dantes-five-favorite-horror-films/|website=Rotten Tomatoes|date=24 October 2017|access-date=18 February 2023}}

The moving image collection of Joe Dante and Jon Davison is held at the Academy Film Archive. The joint collection includes feature films, pre-production elements, and theatrical trailer reels.{{cite web|title=Joe Dante and Jon Davison Collection|url=http://www.oscars.org/film-archive/collections/joe-dante-and-jon-davison-collection|website=Academy Film Archive}}

Dante has also turned down the opportunities to direct Humanoids from the Deep (1980),{{cite book |author=Koetting, Christopher T. |title=Mind Warp!: The Fantastic True Story of Roger Corman's New World Pictures |publisher=Hemlock Books |date=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a8RTswEACAAJ |isbn=978-1936168422 |pages=175–176}} Airplane! (1980), The Flintstones (1994), Casper (1995), and The World Is Not Enough (1999).{{cite web|last=Sherlock|first=Ben|title=007: 7 Directors Who Almost Helmed A Bond Movie (& 8 Who Should)|url=https://screenrant.com/james-bond-movies-almost-directors-007/|website=Screen Rant|date=October 9, 2021|access-date=February 17, 2023}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• Nil Baskar, Gabe Klinger (Ed.): Joe Dante, FilmmuseumSynemaPublikationen Vol. 19, Vienna: SYNEMA - Gesellschaft für Film und Medien, 2013, {{ISBN|978-3-901644-52-8}}
• {{cite magazine|magazine=Famous Monsters|date=July 1962|volume=4|issue=3|publisher=Central Publications, Inc.|last=Dante, Jr.|first=Joe|author-link=Joe Dante|title=Dante's Inferno}}

{{wikiquote}}

• {{IMDb name|1102}}
• [http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/i-want-to-give-you-a-piece-of-my-mind-interview-with-joe-dante-part-1 Interview with Joe Dante, Part 1], MUBI
• [http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/fun-yes-but-by-no-means-civilized-interview-with-joe-dante-part-2 Interview with Joe Dante, Part 2], MUBI
• [https://texasarchive.org/2015_01690 Interview with Joe Dante] from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image
• {{YouTube|0gg3ryed7UQ|The Films of Joe Dante}}, movie clip compilation, 7 minutes

{{Joe Dante}}

{{Saturn Award for Best Director}}

{{Saturn Award for Best Editing}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dante, Joe}}

Category:Living people

Category:American television directors

Category:Collage filmmakers

Category:American comedy film directors

Category:Film directors from New Jersey

Category:Film producers from New Jersey

Category:American horror film directors

Category:People from Livingston, New Jersey

Category:People from Morristown, New Jersey

Category:Postmodernist filmmakers

Category:American science fiction film directors

Category:Television producers from New Jersey

Category:1946 births