Andrew Dominik
Encyclopedia
Andrew Dominik is a New Zealand-born Australian film director
and screenwriter
. He has directed two films so far: Chopper
and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
.
based on notorious Australian criminal Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read, starring Eric Bana
and Simon Lyndon
. Chopper received generally positive reviews, and Bana in particular was widely praised for his intense portrayal of Chopper. The Australian Film Institute
awarded the film with Best Director (Dominik), Best Actor (Bana), and Best Supporting Actor (Lyndon).
, starring Brad Pitt
and Casey Affleck
, based on the novel of the same name
which he came across in a second-hand bookstore. The film explores the peculiar relationship between Jesse James
and his eventual assassin Robert Ford
. Pitt was a big fan of Dominik's first feature Chopper, and had hoped to collaborate with the filmmaker in the future, especially when Pitt had the chance to work with Chopper star Eric Bana in Troy
. Pitt contacted the director, and with a big star interested to lead his new film, Dominik was therefore able to get Warner Bros.
to finance the production.
Principal shooting in Canada was completed in 2005, though The Assassinations 2006 release was delayed to a fall 2007 release, largely due to studio interference with the film's editing process. Dominik and Pitt were pulling for a less quick-paced and more contemplative cut of the film while the studio wanted "less contemplation and more action". There were reportedly more than a dozen edited versions of the film at one time fighting to be the final cut, the longest version being over four hours. The disputes during post-production lasted for over a year before a final version was settled upon. Over an hour of scenes was deleted for the theatrical version, but Dominik remarked he was still very proud of the film the way it is now. The film garnered two Academy Award nominations: Best Cinematography (Deakins
) and Best Supporting Actor (Affleck).
in their second collaboration together (after The Assassination of Jesse James) in a thriller/dark comedy based on George V. Higgins
' Boston-set crime novel Cogan's Trade. Cogan's Trade
began shooting in January 2011 and wrapped in May 2011. An American release date is set for March 2012 with distribution handled by The Weinstein Company
.
approached Dominik and offered him to direct an adaptation of Alfred Bester
's 1953 novel The Demolished Man
, but as time passed, the project eventually became stuck in development hell
when there were disagreements with the screenplay.
Dominik had also written an adapted screenplay for The Killer Inside Me
, an acclaimed noir novel by Jim Thompson
, and was at one point considered to direct it, but dropped out. Michael Winterbottom
eventually directed the film
.
's fictional Marilyn Monroe
memoir of the same name
, which was scheduled to start shooting in January 2011 but the project was put on hold when he announced his Cogan's Trade adaptation. Naomi Watts
is slated to play Monroe.
Dominik penned a script for an American remake of the 2006 French thriller Tell No One
. It is unclear if he will direct the film.
In a 2008 interview, Dominik stated that he has interest in adapting Jim Thompson
's Pop. 1280
and Cormac McCarthy
's Cities of the Plain
, but is having a difficult time putting them into production.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
. He has directed two films so far: Chopper
Chopper (film)
Chopper is a 2000 Australian film, written and directed by New Zealand film-maker Andrew Dominik and based on the semi-autobiographical books by Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read. The film stars Eric Bana as the title character, and co-stars Vince Colosimo, Simon Lyndon, Bill Young and David Field...
and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 2007 American Western drama film. The film is directed by Andrew Dominik, with Brad Pitt portraying Jesse James and Casey Affleck as his killer, Robert Ford.Filming took place in rural Alberta and Winnipeg, Manitoba...
.
Early life and career
Dominik has lived in Australia since he was 2 years old and graduated from Melbourne's Swinburne Film School in 1988.Chopper (2000)
His career in films began in 2000 when he directed ChopperChopper (film)
Chopper is a 2000 Australian film, written and directed by New Zealand film-maker Andrew Dominik and based on the semi-autobiographical books by Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read. The film stars Eric Bana as the title character, and co-stars Vince Colosimo, Simon Lyndon, Bill Young and David Field...
based on notorious Australian criminal Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read, starring Eric Bana
Eric Bana
Eric Bana is an Australian film and television actor. He began his career as a comedian in the sketch comedy series Full Frontal before gaining critical recognition in the biopic Chopper...
and Simon Lyndon
Simon Lyndon
Simon Lyndon Simon Lyndon Simon Lyndon (born February 1971, in London is an Australian actor who grew up in Fremantle, Western Australia. He is a WAAPA graduate. He played Jimmy Loughlin in Chopper with Eric Bana, for which he won an AFI award for Best Supporting Actor and a Film Critics Circle...
. Chopper received generally positive reviews, and Bana in particular was widely praised for his intense portrayal of Chopper. The Australian Film Institute
Australian Film Institute Awards
The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Award , is an accolade presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . The awards recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry and television industry, including directors,...
awarded the film with Best Director (Dominik), Best Actor (Bana), and Best Supporting Actor (Lyndon).
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
His next film was The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert FordThe Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 2007 American Western drama film. The film is directed by Andrew Dominik, with Brad Pitt portraying Jesse James and Casey Affleck as his killer, Robert Ford.Filming took place in rural Alberta and Winnipeg, Manitoba...
, starring Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
and Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck
Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt , better known as Casey Affleck, is an American actor and film director. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, he played supporting roles in mainstream hits like Good Will Hunting and Ocean's Eleven as well as in critically acclaimed independent films such as...
, based on the novel of the same name
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (novel)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 1983 novel by Ron Hansen based on the killing of American Wild West bandit Jesse James at the hands of Robert Ford....
which he came across in a second-hand bookstore. The film explores the peculiar relationship between Jesse James
Jesse James
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. He also faked his own death and was known as J.M James. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary...
and his eventual assassin Robert Ford
Robert Ford (outlaw)
Robert Newton "Bob" Ford was an American outlaw best known for killing his gang leader Jesse James in 1882. Ford was shot to death by Edward O'Kelley in his tent saloon with a shotgun blast to the front upper body...
. Pitt was a big fan of Dominik's first feature Chopper, and had hoped to collaborate with the filmmaker in the future, especially when Pitt had the chance to work with Chopper star Eric Bana in Troy
Troy (film)
Troy is a 2004 epic war film written by David Benioff and directed by Wolfgang Petersen based on the events of the Trojan War. Its cast includes Brad Pitt as Achilles, Eric Bana as Hector.It was nominated for the Academy Award for Costume Design.-Plot:...
. Pitt contacted the director, and with a big star interested to lead his new film, Dominik was therefore able to get Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
to finance the production.
Principal shooting in Canada was completed in 2005, though The Assassinations 2006 release was delayed to a fall 2007 release, largely due to studio interference with the film's editing process. Dominik and Pitt were pulling for a less quick-paced and more contemplative cut of the film while the studio wanted "less contemplation and more action". There were reportedly more than a dozen edited versions of the film at one time fighting to be the final cut, the longest version being over four hours. The disputes during post-production lasted for over a year before a final version was settled upon. Over an hour of scenes was deleted for the theatrical version, but Dominik remarked he was still very proud of the film the way it is now. The film garnered two Academy Award nominations: Best Cinematography (Deakins
Roger Deakins
Roger Antony Deakins, ASC, BSC is an English cinematographer best known for his work on the films of the Coen brothers. Deakins is a member of both the American and British Society of Cinematographers...
) and Best Supporting Actor (Affleck).
Cogan's Trade (2012)
Dominik reteamed with Brad PittBrad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
in their second collaboration together (after The Assassination of Jesse James) in a thriller/dark comedy based on George V. Higgins
George V. Higgins
George V. Higgins was a United States author, lawyer, newspaper columnist, and college professor. He is best known for his bestselling crime novels. His full name was George Vincent Higgins, but his books were all published as by George V. Higgins. ACtually, his full name was George V...
' Boston-set crime novel Cogan's Trade. Cogan's Trade
Cogan's Trade
Cogan's Trade is an upcoming American crime film directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Brad Pitt. The film is based on the 1974 novel of the same name by George V. Higgins. The film is scheduled to be released in early 2012.-Synopsis:...
began shooting in January 2011 and wrapped in May 2011. An American release date is set for March 2012 with distribution handled by The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American film studio founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 2005 after the brothers left the then-Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979...
.
Previously attached projects
In 2003, Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
approached Dominik and offered him to direct an adaptation of Alfred Bester
Alfred Bester
Alfred Bester was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books...
's 1953 novel The Demolished Man
The Demolished Man
The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester, is a science fiction novel that was the first Hugo Award winner in 1953. The story was first serialized in three parts, beginning with the January 1952 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, followed by publication of the novel in 1953. The novel is dedicated to...
, but as time passed, the project eventually became stuck in development hell
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...
when there were disagreements with the screenplay.
Dominik had also written an adapted screenplay for The Killer Inside Me
The Killer Inside Me
The Killer Inside Me is a 1952 novel by American writer Jim Thompson published by Fawcett Publications. In the introduction to the anthology Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s, it is described as "one of the most blistering and uncompromising crime novels ever written."- Plot summary :The...
, an acclaimed noir novel by Jim Thompson
Jim Thompson (writer)
James Myers Thompson was an American author and screenwriter, known for his pulp crime fiction....
, and was at one point considered to direct it, but dropped out. Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom is a prolific English filmmaker who has directed seventeen feature films in the past fifteen years. He began his career working in British television before moving into features...
eventually directed the film
The Killer Inside Me (2010 film)
The Killer Inside Me is a 2010 American film adaptation of the 1952 novel of the same name by Jim Thompson. The film is directed by Michael Winterbottom and stars Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, and Jessica Alba. At its release, it was criticised for its graphic depiction of violence directed toward...
.
Future projects
One of Dominik's next projects is Blonde, based on Joyce Carol OatesJoyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates is an American author. Oates published her first book in 1963 and has since published over fifty novels, as well as many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction...
's fictional Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
memoir of the same name
Blonde (novel)
Blonde is a bestselling 2000 historical novel by Joyce Carol Oates that chronicles the inner life of Marilyn Monroe, though Oates insists that the novel is a work of fiction that should not be regarded as a biography. It was a finalist for the National Book Award...
, which was scheduled to start shooting in January 2011 but the project was put on hold when he announced his Cogan's Trade adaptation. Naomi Watts
Naomi Watts
Naomi Ellen Watts is a British actress. Watts began her career in Australian television, where she appeared in series such as Hey Dad..! , Brides of Christ , and Home and Away . Her film debut was the 1986 drama For Love Alone...
is slated to play Monroe.
Dominik penned a script for an American remake of the 2006 French thriller Tell No One
Tell No One
Tell No One is a 2006 French thriller film directed by Guillaume Canet and based on the novel of the same name by Harlan Coben. It was written by Guillame Canet and Philippe Lefèbvre and stars François Cluzet...
. It is unclear if he will direct the film.
In a 2008 interview, Dominik stated that he has interest in adapting Jim Thompson
Jim Thompson (writer)
James Myers Thompson was an American author and screenwriter, known for his pulp crime fiction....
's Pop. 1280
Pop. 1280
Pop. 1280 is a novel by Jim Thompson . Although not in print at the time of his death , Pop. 1280 is part of Orion's Crime Masterworks series, a testament to the gradual rehabilitation and recognition of Jim Thompson's literary legacy: a clear exposition of an especially bleak species of American...
and Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy is an American novelist and playwright. He has written ten novels, spanning the Southern Gothic, Western, and modernist genres. He received the Pulitzer Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction for The Road...
's Cities of the Plain
Cities of the Plain
Cities of the Plain is the final volume of American novelist Cormac McCarthy's "Border Trilogy", published in 1998. A film adaptation to be directed by Andrew Dominik has been announced for release in 2012...
, but is having a difficult time putting them into production.
Awards
| Year | Group | Award | Won? | Film |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 2000 in film The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor .... |
AFI Awards | Best Director | Yes | Chopper Chopper (film) Chopper is a 2000 Australian film, written and directed by New Zealand film-maker Andrew Dominik and based on the semi-autobiographical books by Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read. The film stars Eric Bana as the title character, and co-stars Vince Colosimo, Simon Lyndon, Bill Young and David Field... |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | No | |||
| IF Awards | Best Independent New Filmmaker | Yes | ||
| Stockholm Film Festival | Bronze Horse | No | ||
| 2001 2001 in film The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy... |
Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema | Best Film | No | |
| Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Director | Yes | ||
| Best Adapted Screenplay | No | |||
| 2007 2007 in film This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007... |
Venice Film Festival | Golden Lion | No | The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 2007 American Western drama film. The film is directed by Andrew Dominik, with Brad Pitt portraying Jesse James and Casey Affleck as his killer, Robert Ford.Filming took place in rural Alberta and Winnipeg, Manitoba... |
| 2008 2008 in film This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008... |
Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Foreign Film - English Language | No | |
| Western Writers of America | Best Western Drama | Yes | ||