Frank Darabont

Darabont became involved in filmmaking by becoming a production assistant on such films as Hell Night, The Seduction, and Trancers. The first film he wrote and directed was a short work adapted from Stephen King's story "The Woman in the Room". This film was one of the first "Dollar Babies" and made the semi-finalist list for Academy Award consideration in 1983. Although Darabont was not happy with how the short turned out, this effort resulted in a close association with King, who granted him the "handshake deal" rights to another of his shorter works, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption from the collection Different Seasons.[5]

Darabont sold his first screenplay titled Black Cat Run in 1986, but it was not produced for more than a decade, as a television film under the same name.[7] Darabont was approached by Chuck Russell (who was a producer on Hell Night and The Seduction) with an offer to become his writing partner, as he had become interested in Darabont's writing after reading his spec script written for the television series M*A*S*H.[6]

The two began working on a script for a remake of the film The Blob, which they had planned to shop around to studios. That was interrupted when they were both hired to rewrite the script of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, with Russell directing the film. The two were given only two weeks to rewrite the script and accomplished it in ten days. The success of their A Nightmare on Elm Street film allowed them to produce the first script they had originally written, The Blob.[6] By then considered a successful writer for hire, Darabont was commissioned to write The Fly II, an early draft of The Rocketeer, and an unproduced sequel to Commando.[8]

Darabont made his directorial debut with Buried Alive, a television movie with a $2,000,000 budget that aired on the USA Network in 1990. He followed this with an extended run as a writer for George Lucas's television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. He also wrote two episodes of the television series Tales from the Crypt.

Darabont made good on the deal with Stephen King by writing and directing the film adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption. Rob Reiner, who had previously adapted another King novella, The Body, into the movie Stand by Me, offered Darabont $2.5 million in an attempt to write and direct Shawshank. He planned to cast Tom Cruise in the part of Andy and Harrison Ford as Red. Darabont seriously considered and liked Reiner's vision, but he ultimately decided it was his "chance to do something really great" by directing the film himself.[9]

Although the film did not fare well at the box office, it was met with acclaim by audiences and critics. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for Darabont. The film attracted additional viewers after its Academy Award nominations, and became the most rented film of 1995.[10] Today it is considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made.[11]

Darabont's next directorial effort was another Stephen King adaptation for which he wrote the screenplay, The Green Mile, starring Tom Hanks. At first Darabont was reluctant to adapt the novel as a film, as its setting was too similar to Shawshank, but quickly changed his mind after reading the novel.[12] Hanks and Darabont first met at an Academy Award luncheon in 1994, and the two were eager to work on a project together. Stephen King said he had envisioned Hanks in the role and was happy when Darabont mentioned his name.[13]

The film was nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture, and Darabont was nominated for his second Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.[14] This was originally the highest-grossing film based on a Stephen King novel, as it made a total of $286,801,374 worldwide (before being surpassed by 2017's It when it made $603 million worldwide.)[15]

In 2001 Darabont directed the film The Majestic, starring Jim Carrey, Martin Landau, and Laurie Holden. He worked with these actors frequently throughout his career. Michael Sloane, whom Darabont had known since high school, wrote the script. This film is one of the few which Darabont directed, but did not write the screenplay. Darabont wanted to direct the film as he saw it as a "love letter" to works of Frank Capra and all the other movies he has loved throughout his life.[16] The film received mixed reviews from critics and bombed at the box-office, recouping only half of its $72 million budget internationally.[17]

Darabont had originally wanted to direct The Mist even before he directed The Shawshank Redemption, but kept pushing it back. It was 2004 before he began to write the screenplay for the film.[18] Most of the crew that worked on the film had worked on the television series The Shield, as Darabont hired them after directing an episode of the series. He thought they could help give the film a "more fluid, ragged documentary kind of direction".[19]

Darabont also helped create the designs of the creatures in the film, along with artists Jordu Schell, Bernie Wrightson, and the film's lead makeup artist Greg Nicotero.[20] CafeFX was hired to do the film's special effects after Darabont asked fellow director Guillermo del Toro who did the effects on his film Pan's Labyrinth.

The film was a modest success at the box office, but earned positive reviews from critics.[21] King also praised Darabont's new ending, saying, "The ending is such a jolt—wham! It's frightening. But people who go to see a horror movie don't necessarily want to be sent out with a Pollyanna ending."[22] When a two-disc edition of the DVD was released, it included an exclusive black-and-white presentation of the film, the way Darabont had always intended it to be.

Frank Darabont and Drew Struzan signing a Limited Edition poster of 2010 series Walking Dead

Darabont developed and executive-produced the first season of The Walking Dead, the AMC series based on Robert Kirkman's comic book of the same name.[23][24] Darabont recalled that he had first come across the series in 2005, in a comic book store in Burbank, California.[25] When Darabont became interested, creator Kirkman called it "extremely flattering". He said that Darabont "definitely cares about the original source material, and you can tell that in the way he's adapting it."[26]

Darabont first initiated a deal with NBC for The Walking Dead, but was later declined. He eventually brought it to AMC, who picked it up based on the source material and Darabont's involvement.[27] Darabont wrote and directed the pilot and was executive producer of the first season, along with Gale Anne Hurd.[28][29] The series features a number of actors who have regularly worked with Darabont in the past, including Jeffrey DeMunn, Laurie Holden and Melissa McBride. The series earned positive reviews upon release and the pilot attracted 5.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched series premiere episode of any AMC television series.[30]

In July 2011, Darabont was fired from the position as showrunner.[31] Initial reports suggested that he was unable to adjust to the schedule of running a television series;[31] however, it was later confirmed that he was fired due to AMC's desire to reduce the show's budget (twice as many episodes for 20% less of a budget) and to his strained relationship with the executives of AMC.[32] Darabont and his agents from the Creative Artists Agency filed a lawsuit against AMC, seeking more than $280 million in unpaid profits.[33] By July 2021, AMC had settled with Darabont and the CAA, agreeing to pay $200 million and future royalty payments.[34]

Not too long after leaving The Walking Dead, Darabont struck a deal with TNT to develop a pilot for a new series to air on their channel, titled L.A. Noir, based on a book by author John Buntin.[35] Darabont discovered the book at LAX Airport and, after two days straight of reading it, decided to adapt it for television.[36] Darabont was very passionate about the project as he had always wanted to produce a film noir.[35]

Darabont cast Jon Bernthal, whom he had worked with on The Walking Dead, in the lead role for the series.[37] Other Darabont regulars cast included Jeffrey DeMunn and Alexa Davalos.[37] The series was given a full season order of six episodes in the fall of 2012 and the title of the series was changed to Mob City.[36][37] The series premiered in December 2013 and was met with mixed to positive reviews.[38] The series was cancelled after one season.[39]

Darabont also held the rights to two other Stephen King stories, The Long Walk and The Monkey, neither of which he ever adapted.[40]

Darabont was a script doctor for the Steven Spielberg films Saving Private Ryan and Minority Report.[41] In 2002, he wrote an early draft of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. While Spielberg reportedly loved it, George Lucas rejected it.[42] He also produced the 2002 film The Salton Sea, starring Val Kilmer and Vincent D'Onofrio.

Over the years Darabont has reunited with his old writing partner Chuck Russell. He did a rewrite for Russell's film Eraser, they attempted to adapt a film of the 1930s pulp character, Doc Savage, and the two wrote an early treatment and were executive producers on the film Collateral.[7][43]

He has also tried to produce film adaptations of the novels Mine by Robert R. McCammon and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Darabont still hopes to make both films some day.[44]

The same year Shawshank was released, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which Darabont wrote, was also released. The film was met with mixed reviews and Darabont called it the worst experience in his career as a writer as he had considered it the best script he had ever written, but that director Kenneth Branagh ruined it "every step of the way".[7] He went on to say that "you can't really judge the script based on what you saw on the screen. It got rephrased and messed with every inch of the way." Guillermo del Toro has shown interest in adapting Darabont's draft of the Frankenstein script when he gets around to filming his own version of the story, calling the draft a "near perfect" adaptation of the original book.[45]

In 2004, he was hired by Tom Cruise to write Mission: Impossible III, but the script was later rewritten by J. J. Abrams, who directed the film.[46] The same year, Darabont wrote the introduction for the Hellboy novel, Hellboy: Odder Jobs by Christopher Golden.[47]

In 2005, Cemetery Dance Publications published Darabont's novella Walpuski's Typewriter in a limited edition. The story, originally written in his early twenties, first appeared in Jessie Horsting's magazine Midnight Graffiti.[48]

In 2007, Darabont directed an episode of The Shield titled "Chasing Ghosts". He also directed and executive produced the pilot episode of Raines, starring Jeff Goldblum.[49]

Darabont appeared in "First Class Jerk", the October 26, 2008, episode of Entourage in which he propositions Vincent Chase to star in a TV show he is executive producing. He appeared in a September 12, 2009, episode where he is now the director of the film about Enzo Ferrari, who Vince is portraying.

According to the Battlestar Galactica: The Official Companion series by Titan Books, Darabont—a huge fan of the re-imagined series—was slated to direct "Islanded in a Stream of Stars", the penultimate episode of the show's final season. Due to scheduling conflicts, he was unable to take the job, which fell to series star (and previous helmer) Edward James Olmos.[50]

Darabont was slated to direct the 2009 film Law Abiding Citizen, but left production due to creative differences with the producers.[51]

At the 2012 Austin Film Festival, Darabont was awarded the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award for his contribution to cinema.[52]

In 2013, he lent his voice to a lengthier version of the World War Z audio book. In November of the same year Bob Weinstein revealed that he and Darabont were developing a ten part television series based on Darabont's 2007 film The Mist.[53]

Darabont was hired to rewrite the script for the 2014 Godzilla reboot.[54] Darabont stated that he would like to bring the monster back to his origins as a "terrifying force of nature."[55] The director of the film Gareth Edwards stated in an interview that Darabont wrote the most moving scene of the film and that particular scene helped convince cast members Bryan Cranston and Juliette Binoche to sign onto the film.[56]

In June 2014, it was reported that Darabont was on the shortlist to direct The Huntsman: Winter's War, a sequel to the fantasy film Snow White and the Huntsman.[57] A month later it was confirmed that Darabont would direct the film, but it would not be a sequel, but a prequel focusing on Chris Hemsworth's character Eric, the Huntsman.[58] However, Darabont left the project in January 2015, citing creative differences as the cause.[59]

Darabont revealed in a 2021 interview with Mick Garris that he had recently written a script for a film centred around the American Civil War, based on an unproduced screenplay by filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and historian Shelby Foote that Ridley Scott was attached to produce. Darabont considers the script to be the best thing he's ever written and was dismayed when the film was unable to find financing.[60]

Uncredited writing works

Technical credits

Cameos

TV movies

• Buried Alive (1990)
• Black Cat Run (1998)

Cameos