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Jonathan Mostow

Jonathan Mostow made his motion picture debut as writer and director on 1997's Breakdown, the taut thriller starring Kurt Russell as a man whose wife mysteriously vanishes in the desert after their car breaks down. The critically acclaimed film debuted atop the U.S. box office its opening weekend.

He followed with another No. 1 box office success—the WWII submarine action-thriller U-571, starring Matthew McConaughey and Harvey Keitel. The film, which he also wrote, garnered two Academy Award nominations, winning an Oscar for Best Sound Editing. Mostow next directed Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which earned $450 million in global receipts in the continuation of one of Hollywood's most fruitful franchises.

He executive produced David Fincher's 1997 thriller The Game (on which he also developed the script with longtime collaborators and Harvard classmates John Brancato and Michael Ferris), then returned to the director's chair for the Emmy award-winning HBO miniseries, From the Earth to the Moon, directing Tom Hanks in the finale segment entitled La Voyage Dans La Lune.

In 2004, Mostow was voted Action Director of the Year by the World Stunt Association. Most recently, he served as executive producer on the blockbuster Will Smith superhero drama, Hancock.

Mostow began his filmmaking career as a student at Harvard University, where he directed numerous award-winning shorts and documentaries. His first writing and directing breakthrough was the 1991 Showtime television thriller Flight of Black Angel, which earned him a Cable ACE nomination for Best International Movie or Special.

In addition to his film and television work, Mostow also recently created, for Virgin Comics, The Megas, a four-issue graphic novel series set in an alternative reality, in which the United States is ruled by a monarchy.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2009.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Jonathan Mostow Facts

OccupationDirector, Screenwriter
BirthdayNovember 28, 1961 (62)
SignSagittarius
BirthplaceWoodbridge, Connecticut, USA

Selected Filmography

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Surrogates
Flight Of Black Angel
Breakdown
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
U-571
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines / Terminator Salvation
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