New Zealand writer
Anthony McCarten
(born 28 April 1961) is a New Zealand writer and filmmaker. He is best known for writing big-budget
biopics
The Theory of Everything
(2014),
Darkest Hour
(2017),
Bohemian Rhapsody
(2018),
The Two Popes
(2019), and
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody
(2022). McCarten has been nominated for four
Academy Awards
, including twice for
Best Adapted Screenplay
, for
The Theory of Everything
and
The Two Popes
.
Early life
[
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]
McCarten was born and raised in
New Plymouth, New Zealand
,
[2]
and attended
Francis Douglas Memorial College
. He worked as a reporter for a couple of years on
The Taranaki Herald
before studying for an Arts degree at
Massey University
and
Victoria University of Wellington
, where he studied creative writing with
Bill Manhire
. After leaving university, McCarten appeared in a production of
King Lear
.
[2]
[3]
Career
[
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]
Novels
[
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]
McCarten is a novelist and author of ten novels. McCarten's novels have been translated into 26 languages. His first novel,
Spinners
(Picador, 2000), was voted one of the top ten novels of that year by
Esquire
magazine.
[4]
McCarten published his second novel,
The English Harem
, in 2002, which he later adapted for the screen.
[4]
It was broadcast on ITV in December 2005.
[5]
In 2007, he wrote his third novel
Death of a Superhero
, then adapted the screenplay, executive produced the film, and wrote the book of the stage musical. It won the 2008 Austrian Youth Literature Prize and was a finalist for the 2008 German Youth Literature Prize.
[4]
His fourth novel,
Show Of Hands
, was published in Europe, and in the US by Simon and Schuster in 2009. McCarten directed the big screen adaptation and the movie had its world premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival, 2008, and was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director at the New Zealand Film Awards.
[6]
[7]
[8]
The sequel novel to
Death of a Superhero
,
In The Absence Of Heroes
, was published in 2012, and was a finalist for the 2013 New Zealand Fiction Prize and was longlisted for the 2014 Dublin International IMPAC Literary Award.
[9]
In 2013 McCarten published
Brilliance
, about
Thomas Edison
, and his friendship with
J.P. Morgan
.
[10]
In 2015 he was inducted as a Literary Fellow of the New Zealand Society of Authors.
[4]
[11]
Going Zero
, his 2023 thriller, was published in 23 languages.
In 2017 McCarten's work of historical non-fiction,
Darkest Hour: How Churchill Brought Us Back From The Brink
was published, and later was turned into a biopic.
[12]
[13]
Screenwriting
[
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]
Via Satellite
, which McCarten adapted from his own stage play, and directed himself, was invited to several film festivals including London, Cannes, Toronto, Melbourne, Hawaii and Seattle. His follow-up feature as writer/director,
Show of Hands
(2008), premiered at the Montreal International Film Festival and was an official selection for the Shanghai Film Festival 2009.
In 2011, his adaptation of his own novel
Death of a Superhero
had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, won the 2011
Les Arcs Film Festival
Audience Choice Prize and Young Jury Prize, and the Audience Award and 'Special Mention' of the Jury at the Mamer-en-Mars European Film Festival. It had its US premiere at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.
McCarten produced and wrote
The Theory of Everything
(2014), concerning the life of Prof.
Stephen Hawking
, and his first wife,
Jane Hawking
. He first initiated talks with Jane to acquire the rights to her autobiography,
Travelling to Infinity
, in 2004, and shortly after began work on the screenplay, which took its inspiration from her book. On 15 January 2015, the film received 5
Academy Award
nominations, with McCarten earning two as producer and screenwriter in the categories of
Best Picture
and
Best Adapted Screenplay
. He won two BAFTA awards for his roles as producer Best British Film and screenwriter
Best Adapted Screenplay
.
In 2017, McCarten wrote and co-produced a film about
Winston Churchill
,
Darkest Hour
. It stars
Gary Oldman
as Churchill, who has received critical acclaim for his performance. The film received 6
Academy Award
nominations, with McCarten earning one as producer in the category of
Best Picture
. He was also nominated for two BAFTA awards for his role as producer,
Best British Film
and
Best Film
.
McCarten wrote
Bohemian Rhapsody
(2018), the
Queen
biopic that reached Number 1 at the box office in the US, UK, France, Germany, and all major markets, recording the second biggest opening weekend in history for a musical biography. It became the biggest grossing drama
[14]
and/or biopic of all time in 2018,
[15]
winning the 2019 Golden Globe for Best Picture (drama),
[16]
earning over $900 million at the box office, and was nominated for the 2019 Academy Award for Best Picture.
[17]
In 2019, he wrote the script for
The Two Popes
, the film adaptation of his own stage play,
The Pope
; the film stars
Anthony Hopkins
as
Pope Benedict XVI
and
Jonathan Pryce
as
Pope Francis
, and had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival.
In April 2020,
Deadline.com
announced McCarten would be writing the screenplay for an upcoming
Whitney Houston
biopic. He would also serve as producer with Houston's mentor/boss
Clive Davis
, her estate president and music company Primary Wave.
Stella Meghie
was set to direct the film,
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody
.
[18]
In September 2021, director
Kasi Lemmons
was brought on to replace Meghie.
[19]
Production started shortly afterwards at Marina Studios' soundstages in Quincy, Massachusetts.
[20]
Theatre
[
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]
McCarten received early international success with his play
Ladies Night
.
[2]
McCarten has written the book for
A Beautiful Noise
, a
Broadway
musical about
Neil Diamond
which premiered in
New York
in December 2022.
[21]
He is also the author of the plays
The Collaboration
and
The Pope
(AKA
The Two Popes
)
[22]
Personal life
[
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]
McCarten divides his time between London, Los Angeles and Munich. He has three children.
[
citation needed
]
Selected works
[
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]
Films
Television
Theatre
Year
|
Title
|
Venue
|
Notes
|
1984
|
Invitation to a Second Class Carriage
|
Depot Theatre, Wellington
|
|
1987
|
Yellow Canary Mazurka
|
|
|
1987
|
Ladies Night
|
Mercury
|
With
Stephen Sinclair
|
1988, 1989
|
Pigeon English
|
Playwrights' Workshop / Depot
|
|
1990
|
Weed
|
|
|
1991
|
Via Satellite
|
Wellington Theatre Critics
|
|
1992
|
Hang on a Minute, Mate
|
Downstage
|
|
1992
|
Ladies' Night 2
|
Mercury
|
With Stephen Sinclair
|
1995
|
FILTH (Failed in London, Try Hong Kong)
|
Circa
|
|
1996
|
Four Cities
|
Los Angeles
|
AKA
Continental Breakfast
|
2014
|
Death of a Superhero
|
|
book by McCarten, music by Paul Brown
|
2017
|
The Pope
|
Royal and Derngate Theatre, Northampton
|
AKA
The Two Popes
|
2018
|
Wednesday at Warren's, Friday at Bill's
|
|
|
2022
|
The Collaboration
|
London/Broadway
|
|
2022
|
A Beautiful Noise
|
Boston/Broadway
|
book by McCarten, music by Neil Diamond
|
Awards and nominations
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]
Bibliography
[
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]
- Spinners
Random House New Zealand (1999) Harper Perennial (US) (2001)
- The English Harem
Picador (2002), reprinted (film-tie-in) Alma Books (2006)
- Brilliance
(2006) Hawthorne Books (US), Alma Books (UK) Random House (NZ) Diogenes (Germany)
- Death of a Superhero
(2006, 2007) Alma Books
- Show of Hands
(2008) Diogenes (Germ.), Simon and Schuster (US), Random House (NZ)
- In the Absence of Heroes
(2012) Random House (NZ), Diogenes (Germ.)
- funnygirl
(2015) Alma Books (UK), Random House (NZ) Diogenes (Germany)
- Darkest Hour: How Churchill Brought Us Back from the Brink
(2017) Penguin/Viking (UK), HarperCollins (US)
- The Pope: Francis, Benedict, and the Decision That Shook the World
(2019) Flatiron Books (US)
- Going Zero
(2023)
References
[
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]
- ^
"Anthony McCarten on myCast - Fan Casting Your Favorite Stories"
.
myCast - Fan Casting Your Favorite Stories
.
- ^
a
b
c
Saltmarsh, Matthew (24 May 2008).
"From sex comedy to exiles: Prolific New Zealander's worldwide reach"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
13 November
2014
.
- ^
"Anthony McCarten profile"
. Authortrek. Archived from
the original
on 13 November 2014
. Retrieved
13 November
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Anthony McCarten"
.
Academy of New Zealand Literature
. Retrieved
18 November
2021
.
- ^
"English Harem, The (ITV 2005, Martine McCutcheon, Art Malik)"
.
Memorable TV
. 13 January 2017
. Retrieved
18 November
2021
.
- ^
"Show of Hands"
.
New Zealand Film Commission
. Retrieved
18 November
2021
.
- ^
"Fiction Book Review: Show of Hands by Anthony McCarten, Author . Washington Square $15 (230p) ISBN 978-1-4165-8607-4"
.
PublishersWeekly.com
. Retrieved
18 November
2021
.
- ^
Screen, NZ On.
"Anthony McCarten | NZ On Screen"
.
www.nzonscreen.com
. Retrieved
18 November
2021
.
- ^
booksellersnz (14 August 2013).
"Book Review: In the Absence of Heroes, by Anthony McCarten"
. Retrieved
18 November
2021
.
- ^
"Brilliance"
.
Historical Novel Society
. Retrieved
18 November
2021
.
- ^
"Spotlight on… ANTHONY MCCARTEN ? Circa Theatre"
. Retrieved
18 November
2021
.
- ^
"Review: Darkest Hour"
.
RNZ
. 18 January 2018
. Retrieved
18 November
2021
.
- ^
"What's Fact and What's Fiction in the Movie 'Darkest Hour'
"
.
Time
. Retrieved
18 November
2021
.
- ^
Mendelson, Scott (7 January 2019).
"Bryan Singer Golden Globes Winning 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Is The Highest Grossing Drama Of All Time"
.
Forbes Magazine
.
- ^
Chilton, Bart (26 November 2018).
"Bohemian Blockchain Rhapsody: Lessons to be Learned from Queen & Freddie"
.
Forbes Magazine
.
- ^
Aridi, Sara (6 January 2019).
"Golden Globe Winners 2019: The Complete List"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
7 January
2019
.
- ^
"Oscar Nominations 2019: The Complete List"
.
Variety
. 22 January 2019.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
22 January
2019
.
- ^
Fleming, Mike Jr. (22 April 2020).
"Whitney Houston Biopic Crystallizes; Stella Meghie Directing, Anthony McCarten Writing Script For Houston Estate, Primary Wave & Clive Davis"
.
Deadline
. Retrieved
23 April
2020
.
- ^
Kroll, Justin (1 September 2021).
"Kasi Lemmons To Direct TriStar's Whitney Houston Biopic 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody'
"
.
Deadline
. Retrieved
20 September
2022
.
- ^
Vlessing, Etan (20 August 2021).
"Compelling Pictures Books Marina Studios for Whitney Houston Biopic, Film Slate Shoots (Exclusive)"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
. Retrieved
20 September
2022
.
- ^
"Anthony McCarten, the writer with the Midas touch, on his 'Pope Opera'
"
. The Big Issue. 16 December 2019
. Retrieved
25 December
2019
.
- ^
"London's The Collaboration Transferring to Broadway With Jeremy Pope and Paul Bettany"
.
Playbill
. 7 July 2022.
- ^
"Two Popes, The"
.
www.goldenglobes.com
.
External links
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