New Zealand filmmaker (born 1966)
Andrew Adamson
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Adamson in 2013
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Born
| (
1966-12-01
)
1 December 1966
(age 57)
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Occupations
|
- Film director
- film producer
- screenwriter
- animator
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Years active
| 1990?present
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Children
| 2
[1]
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Andrew Ralph Adamson
MNZM
(born 1 December 1966)
[2]
is a New Zealand film director, producer, screenwriter and animator. He is best known for directing the
DreamWorks
animated films
Shrek
(2001) and its sequel
Shrek 2
(2004), both based on
the book of the same name
by
William Steig
. He was nominated for an
Academy Award
for
Shrek 2
. He also directed and co-wrote the live-action film adaptations of
C. S. Lewis
's novels,
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
(2005) and its sequel
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
(2008).
Personal life
[
edit
]
Adamson's parents were a homemaker and a
computer engineer
. Born in New Zealand, Adamson moved to
Papua New Guinea
with his parents when he was eleven years old. He returned to
Auckland
seven years later. At age 24, he moved to
San Francisco
, and divided time his between there and Los Angeles. Since making the
Narnia
films, he has settled back in New Zealand. Adamson has two children.
[3]
Career
[
edit
]
Adamson wanted to be an architect, but missed a university enrollment deadline because of a car accident.
[4]
He was recruited by
Pacific Data Images
to work in the USA. The company opened an office in Los Angeles. There he served as a
technical director
for
Toys
(1992), starring
Robin Williams
, and
Angels in the Outfield
(1994), starring
Danny Glover
. Previously, Adamson specialised in ads
[
clarification needed
]
but preferred the idea of telling a story in longer format. He served as visual effects supervisor in the 1995 film
Batman Forever
,
A Time to Kill
(1996), and
Batman & Robin
(1997).
Adamson directed
Shrek
(the first installment in the series), based on the 1990 picture book written by
William Steig
[5]
with a modest budget of US$60 million in 2001. However, the film became a worldwide success, taking in nearly $500 million in the box office, including more than $40 million in its opening weekend. The film featured the lead voices of
Mike Myers
,
Eddie Murphy
,
Cameron Diaz
and
John Lithgow
. The next film in the series,
Shrek 2
(2004), had a big Hollywood budget of around $150 million, and was even a bigger success than the first film, taking in more than $900 million worldwide. The film opened to over $100 million, one of the highest openings ever at the time. Adamson directed this film and also wrote the story.
[
citation needed
]
However, he did not direct the next film in the series,
Shrek the Third
, as he had been contracted by Walden Media to work on
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
. Instead, the film was directed by
Chris Miller
and
Raman Hui
while Adamson served as executive producer. The script of the film was written by J. David Stem and Joe Stillman. The third film was financially successful, taking in more than $795 million worldwide with a budget of no more than $160 million, but received mixed reviews from critics.
[
citation needed
]
Adamson achieved commercial success and worldwide attention with
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
, which he co-produced, co-wrote and directed. The film is based on the
book of the same name
by
C. S. Lewis
, and won various awards, gained critical praise and was a box office success, becoming the third highest-grossing film worldwide of 2005 according to
Box Office Mojo
. The film opened in the US and Canada with totals of higher than $65 million and the film ended up with a worldwide gross of $744,783,957 with a budget of $180 million according to
Box Office Mojo
.
[6]
He returned as director to the next Narnia film:
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
, which had a worldwide release in May 2008 and grossed over $419 million at the box office. Adamson returned as producer of
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
, released in Australia on 9 December 2010, and in the United States and UK on 10 December the same year.
20th Century Fox
and
Walden Media
still hold the rights to the series, and they currently retain the option to make
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair
in the future. However, 20th Century Fox and Walden Media decided to produce
The Magician's Nephew
as the next Narnia film instead of
The Silver Chair
. But, in October 2011, Douglas Gresham confirmed that Walden Media's contract with the C. S. Lewis estate had expired, and any production of a future film was on hold indefinitely.
Experimental hip hop
group
Death Grips
worked with Adamson on their 2018 album
Year of the Snitch
.
[7]
He appears on the track "Dilemma," delivering a spoken word introduction to the song.
Filmography
[
edit
]
Executive producer only
Other credits
Accolades and honour
[
edit
]
Adamson has directed films which have received several accolades.
Shrek
won the
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
, the
BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
, and the
National Board of Review Award for Best Animated Film
.
Shrek 2
won the
People's Choice Awards
for Favorite Movie Comedy, Favorite Sequel, and Favorite Animated Movie.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
won the
Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling
, the
BAFTA Award for Best Makeup and Hair
, the
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Family Film
, and the
Saturn Awards for Best Make-up
and
Best Special Effects
.
Adamson was appointed a
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit
, for services to film, in the
2006 Queen's Birthday Honours
.
[8]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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