Robert Schwentke
Schwentke in 2018
Born (1968-02-15) 15 February 1968 (age 55)
Stuttgart, West Germany
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
Years active1993–present

Robert Schwentke (German: [ˈʃvɛŋkə]; born 15 February 1968) is a German film director and screenwriter. He is best known for directing Flightplan (2005), The Time Traveler's Wife (2009), Red (2010), The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015), The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016), The Captain (2017), and Snake Eyes (2021).

Life and career

Schwentke was born in Stuttgart, West Germany. He graduated from Los Angeles film school, Columbia College Hollywood (CCH), in 1992. His wife is an American.

He directed two feature films in Germany, the thriller Tattoo and the comedy Eierdiebe, the latter a semi-autobiographical film about a man being treated for testicular cancer, a disease he had been diagnosed with and survived himself in 1995.[1]

Although not intending to do Hollywood movies, he ended up doing so after having trouble financing a third German film.[2]

Schwentke directed 2009's The Time Traveler's Wife, based on the best-selling novel, and starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. That same year, Schwentke directed the pilot episode of Fox's Lie to Me.

In 2008, Summit Entertainment optioned Red, the 2003 graphic novel thriller by writer Warren Ellis and artist Cully Hamner, as a feature film. Schwentke directed the film, Red, from a script by Whiteout screenwriters Erich and Jon Hoeber, and the adaptation was produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian of Transformers.[3] Principal photography began in January 2010 in Toronto and Louisiana with stars Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman.[4]

Schwentke directed the action-comedy crime film R.I.P.D., based on the comic book Rest in Peace Department by Peter M. Lenkov. The film starred Ryan Reynolds as Nick Walker[5] and Jeff Bridges as Roycephus Pulsipher.[6] R.I.P.D. was released on 19 July 2013 in the United States by Universal Pictures.[7] Schwentke said in 2018 that he regretted making R.I.P.D. due to differences with the studio and that he had never watched the final film, saying it "wasn't in the end what the studio wanted".[8] He directed The Divergent Series: Insurgent, the sequel to Divergent, which was released on 20 March 2015. He directed Part 1 of Allegiant, the two-part finale to the series, with a script by Noah Oppenheim.[9]

Schwentke directed the G.I. Joe spin-off film centered around Snake Eyes, which stars Henry Golding and was released in 2021.[10][11][12]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Director Writer
1993 Heaven! Yes Yes
2002 Tattoo Yes Yes
2003 Eierdiebe Yes Yes
2005 Flightplan Yes No
2009 The Time Traveler's Wife Yes No
2010 Red Yes No
2013 R.I.P.D. Yes No
2015 The Divergent Series: Insurgent Yes No
2016 The Divergent Series: Allegiant Yes No
2017 The Captain Yes Yes
2021 Snake Eyes Yes No
2023 Seneca – On the Creation of Earthquakes Yes Yes

Television

Year Title Director Writer Notes
1998-2001 Tatort No Yes Episodes "Bildersturm", "Drei Affen" and "Mördergrube"
2009 Lie to Me Yes No Episode "Pilot"
TBA Helgoland Yes Yes Also creator

See also

References

  1. ^ "Eierdiebe - Ein Gespräch mit Robert Schwentke". Kino-zeit.de (in German). 22 January 2004. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  2. ^ "Interview with Robert Schwentke about THE CAPTAIN". CINEFILE.info. 2 August 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  3. ^ "RED Aims For Green Light, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 June 2008
  4. ^ 'Red' To Begin Shooting In January Archived 26 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine, MTV
  5. ^ Armitage, Hugh (2 April 2010). "Ryan Reynolds joins 'R.I.P.D.' cast". DigitalSpy.co.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  6. ^ Jones, Brandon (28 May 2011). "Jeff Bridges joins Ryan Reynolds for 'R.I.P.D' film". DeskofBrian.com. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  7. ^ Marshall, Rick (27 June 2011). "'R.I.P.D.' Gets A Release Date". SplashPage.MTV.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  8. ^ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche, KINO-Special with Director Robert Schwentke | DW | 13 May 2018, retrieved 25 June 2021
  9. ^ "'Insurgent' Director Robert Schwentke Returning for 'Allegiant Part 1′ (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  10. ^ McNary, Dave (11 May 2018). "Film News Roundup: G.I. Joe Spinoff 'Snake Eyes' in the Works at Paramount". Variety. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  11. ^ "Paramount Pictures Gives 'G.I. Joe' Character Snake Eyes a Spinoff Movie". The Hollywood Reporter. 11 May 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Hasbro Posts Quarterly Loss as Pandemic Hits eOne". The Hollywood Reporter. 27 July 2020.

External links

Films directed by Robert Schwentke
Authority control databases
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