Julius Avery
{{short description|Australian film director}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use Australian English|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Julius Avery
| image = Julius Avery at the 58th BFI London Film Festival Awards.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Avery at the 58th BFI London Film Festival Awards in 2014
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1979}}{{cite web|url=https://candidmagazine.com/inside-son-of-a-gun-with-director-julius-avery/|title=Inside 'Son Of A Gun' with director Julius Avery|publisher=|access-date=5 November 2018|archive-date=5 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105202700/https://candidmagazine.com/inside-son-of-a-gun-with-director-julius-avery/|url-status=dead}}
| birth_place = Pemberton, Western Australia
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation = Film director · producer · screenwriter
| years_active = 2000–present
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Julius Avery is an Australian filmmaker. His credits include Son of a Gun (2014), Overlord (2018) and The Pope's Exorcist (2023).
Life and works
After growing up in Pemberton, Western Australia, Avery attended The Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne. He has written and directed several award winning short films including Cannes jury prize winning short film Jerrycan in 2008.{{cite web|url=https://candidmagazine.com/inside-son-of-a-gun-with-director-julius-avery/|title=Inside 'Son Of A Gun' with director Julius Avery|publisher=|access-date=5 November 2018|archive-date=5 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105202700/https://candidmagazine.com/inside-son-of-a-gun-with-director-julius-avery/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/aussie-julius-avery-takes-out-cannes-award-with-jerrycan/news-story/d947d539a1b72d1378b35bb217f35c3b?sv=dc1d4e7d0af3f1f00252e063f83e9a92 |title=We're for Sydney |publisher=Daily Telegraph |date= |accessdate=2018-11-20}} Avery wrote and produced Yardbird in 2012, an award winning short film nominated for several major awards including the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Both were produced through Avery’s production company Bridle Path Films.{{Cite web |title=Julius Avery {{!}} Director, Writer, Producer |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1170339/ |access-date=2024-02-06 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}
In 2014, Avery wrote and directed his first feature, Australian crime thriller film Son of a Gun starring Brenton Thwaites, Ewan McGregor, Alicia Vikander, and Jacek Koman.{{cite web|url=http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/son-gun-film|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150209123745/http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/son-gun-film|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 February 2015|title=SON OF A GUN - British Board of Film Classification|website=bbfc.co.uk}} The film was nominated for Best Film at The London Film Festival, BFI awards. Son of a Gun was produced in association with Avery’s company Bridle Path Films.
Avery directed the war horror film Overlord (2018) for Bad Robot Productions and Paramount Pictures.{{cite web|url=https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/849643-bad-robot-overlord-cast|title=Overlord Cast: Who's Starring in the Bad Robot Thriller|date=17 May 2017|publisher=}} Overlord stars Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Pilou Asbæk, Iain De Caestecker, John Magaro and Mathilde Ollivier. The film was produced by J. J. Abrams and Lindsey Weber and written by Billy Ray and Mark L. Smith.
Along with being announced as the director of The Heavy, a Paramount and Bad Robot production, Avery had been recruited by 20th Century Fox to write and direct a remake of Flash Gordon alongside Matthew Vaughn who was to be producing.{{cite web|author=Dave McNary |url=https://variety.com/2018/film/news/overlord-director-flash-gordon-movie-1203015289/ |title='Overlord' Director Julius Avery Boards 'Flash Gordon' Movie – Variety |publisher=Variety.com |date=2018-10-30 |accessdate=2018-11-20}}{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/flash-gordon-movie-be-directed-by-julius-avery-1156437|title='Flash Gordon' Movie to Be Directed by Julius Avery|work=Hollywood Reporter | date=30 October 2018 | first=Aaron | last=Couch | accessdate=18 November 2019 }} However, following Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox's assets, the film was cancelled. He instead directed MGM's Samaritan, a dark superhero film starring Sylvester Stallone, released in August 26, 2022 it went onto to be the number one watched movies on Prime Video that year.{{cite web|last=D'Alessandro|first=Anthony|title=Sylvester Stallone MGM Thriller 'Samaritan' Heads To June 4, 2021|url=https://deadline.com/2019/11/sylvester-stallone-mgm-thriller-samaritan-opening-late-fall-2020-1202743588/|date=27 November 2019|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=8 December 2019}}{{Cite web |last=Vitale |first=Micaela Pérez |date=2023-06-24 |title=The Most Streamed Prime Video Movies and TV Shows in 2022 |url=https://movieweb.com/prime-video-movies-tv-series-most-watched-2022-amazon/ |access-date=2024-02-06 |website=MovieWeb |language=en}}
Avery's latest film The Pope's Exorcist (2023) is a supernatural horror film, from a screenplay by Michael Petroni and Evan Spiliotopoulos, based on the 1990 book An Exorcist Tells His Story and the 1992 book An Exorcist: More Stories by Father Gabriele Amorth.{{Cite news |last=Vincentelli |first=Elisabeth |date=2023-04-14 |title='The Pope's Exorcist' Review: A Head-Spinning Genre Mash-Up |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/14/movies/the-popes-exorcist-review.html |access-date=2024-02-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=6 February 2024 |title=WGA |url=https://directories.wga.org/project/1234375/the-popes-exorcist/ |access-date=2024-02-06 |website=directories.wga.org}} The film stars Russell Crowe as Amorth and was released in the United States on April 14, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing.{{Cite web |last=Hammond |first=Pete |date=2023-04-13 |title='The Pope's Exorcist' Review: A Terrific Russell Crowe Battles Demons In Movie Possessed By The Memory Of A Certain 50-Year-Old Horror Classic |url=https://deadline.com/2023/04/the-popes-exorcist-review-russell-crowe-movie-1235324839/ |access-date=2024-02-06 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}} The film grossed $20 million in the United States and Canada, and $57 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $77 million.{{Cite web |title=The Pope's Exorcist |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1187939073/ |access-date=2024-02-06 |website=Box Office Mojo}}{{Cite web |title=The Pope's Exorcist (2023) - Financial Information |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Popes-Exorcist-The-(2023) |access-date=2024-02-06 |website=The Numbers}} The film later that year was streamed on Netflix starting August 16, 2023, where it ranked as the number one film in America for nine straight days.{{Cite web |last=Zilko |first=Christian |date=2023-08-04 |title=The 7 Best New Movies on Netflix in August 2023 |url=https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/best-new-movies-on-netflix-august-2023/ |access-date=2024-02-06 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}
Filmography
Short film
- Matchbox (2002)
- Little Man (2004)
- Solvent (2004)
- End of Town (2006)
- The Tank (2007)
- Jerrycan (2008)
- Yardbird (2012) (Producer/writer)
Feature film
- Son of a Gun (2014) (Also writer)
- Overlord (2018)
- Samaritan (2022)
- The Pope's Exorcist (2023)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name}}
{{Julius Avery}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avery, Julius}}
Category:Australian film directors
Category:Australian male screenwriters