Simon Kinberg

Simon Kinberg
Kinberg in 2017
Born	Simon David Kinberg (1973-08-02)August 2, 1973 Hammersmith,London, England
Nationality	American
Education	Brown University(BA) Columbia University(MFA)
Occupations	Screenwriter director producer
Years active	2000–present
Spouse	Mali Heled ​ ​ (m.2001;div.2017)​
Partner	Cleo Wade(engaged)
Children	4
Father	Jud Kinberg

Simon David Kinberg(born August 2, 1973)is an American filmmaker. He wrote or produced a number of films in the20th Century FoxX-Menfilm franchise,and has also written such films asMr. & Mrs. SmithandSherlock Holmes.He has served as a producer on others, includingCinderellaandThe Martian,the latter of which was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Picture.His production companyGenre Filmshad a first-look deal with20th Century Fox.Kinberg made hisdirectorial debutin the 2019 X-Men filmDark Phoenixfrom a script he also wrote.

Early life

Kinberg was born inHammersmith,London, England to American parents Monica Menell-Kinberg andJud Kinberg,a New York City-born writer and producer.From age six, he was raised in Los Angeles, California.He is Jewish.Kinberg graduated fromBrentwood High School,and then fromBrown University,Phi Beta Kappa,magna cum laude;in 2003 he received his MFA fromColumbia UniversitySchool of the Arts, where he won the Zaki Gordon Fellowship for Screenwriting.

Career

Film and television

While still in film school, Kinberg sold a pitch to Warner Brothers, then went on to write scripts for Disney, Sony, and DreamWorks, working withSteven SpielbergandJerry Bruckheimer,among others. After finishing school, Kinberg moved to Hollywood, where his first screenwriting credit was a sequel to the hit action filmXXX(2002),XXX: State of the Union(2005). His next screenwriting venture was the screenplay forMr. & Mrs. Smith,directed byDoug Limanand starringBrad PittandAngelina Jolie.The script began as Kinberg's thesis project for film school. Kinberg also wrote the pilot episode for a television adaptation ofMr. & Mrs. Smithfor ABC TV. He also appears in the movie, in a scene withBrad Pitt.

Kinberg's next screenwriting job was the third movie in the20th Century FoxX-Menfilm series:X-Men: The Last Stand(2006), which he co-wrote withZak Penn.Comic-book writerChris Claremont,who wrote the Dark Phoenix storyline that served as the primary source material for the film, also wrote the novelization of the film and made Kinberg a character in the book.

Kinberg reunited with director Doug Liman for the filmJumper(2008). Kinberg wrote and produced the movie, which starsSamuel L. Jackson,Hayden Christensen,andDiane Lane.The following year, Kinberg was writer ofSherlock Holmes,directed byGuy Ritchie,starringRobert Downey Jr.andJude Law.In April 2010, his production company, Genre Films, signed a first-look deal with20th Century Fox.

Kinberg was the producer ofX-Men: First Class(2011), and both writer and producer ofThis Means War(2012). He was also co-screenwriter and an executive producer of the filmAbraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunterin that same year. In 2013, Kinberg producedElysium.

The following year, Kinberg was the writer and the producer of the filmX-Men: Days of Future Past.That same year, he producedLet's Be Cops.In 2015, Kinberg produced the Neill Blomkamp filmChappieand the live-action version ofCinderellaat Disney. He also worked onFantastic Fouras writer and producer. His final film of the year wasThe Martian,directed byRidley Scott.

He wrote and producedX-Men: Apocalypse,the next film in theX-Menfranchise followingX-Men: Days of Future Past.Kinberg produced 2016'sDeadpool,2017'sLogan,2018'sDeadpool 2,2019'sDark Phoenix(the latter of which also served as his directorial debut) andThe New Mutants,all of which areX-Menspin-off films. He also producedMurder on the Orient Express,an adaptation of theAgatha Christienovelof the same name.

The Hollywood Reporterinitially reported thatLawrence Kasdan,writer ofThe Empire Strikes BackandReturn of the Jedi,and Kinberg would write and produce Episodes VIII and IX of the newStar Warsfilms.A week later the publication stated that Kasdan and Kinberg would be working on futureStar Warsprojects, but not necessarily on Episodes VIII and IX.

In television, he is an executive producer on ABC network'sDesignated SurvivorstarringKiefer Sutherland,Legioncreated byNoah Hawleyfor FX, andThe Giftedon Fox. He executive produced thethird revivalof the science fiction anthology series,The Twilight Zonewhich premiered in 2019.

In July 2019, it was announced that Kinberg and his production company Genre Films was leaving Fox after 20 years.

Personal life

Kinberg married Mali Heled in a Jewish ceremony on July 26, 2001.They have two sons.The couple separated in 2014 and were divorced in early 2017.By November 4, 2019, Kinberg became engaged to writerCleo Wade.They have a daughter, born in 2020 and a second daughter in 2021.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Writer	Producer	Director	Notes
2005	XXX: State of the Union	Yes	No	Lee Tamahori
	Mr. & Mrs. Smith	Yes	No	Doug Liman	Role: Investment Banker #1
2006	X-Men: The Last Stand	Yes	No	Brett Ratner
2008	Jumper	Yes	Yes	Doug Liman
2009	Sherlock Holmes	Yes	No	Guy Ritchie
2011	X-Men: First Class	No	Yes	Matthew Vaughn
2012	This Means War	Yes	Yes	McG
2013	Elysium	No	Yes	Neill Blomkamp
2014	X-Men: Days of Future Past	Yes	Yes	Bryan Singer
	Let's Be Cops	No	Yes	Luke Greenfield
2015	Fantastic Four	Yes	Yes	Josh Trank
	Cinderella	No	Yes	Kenneth Branagh
	Chappie	No	Yes	Neill Blomkamp
	The Martian	No	Yes	Ridley Scott
2016	Deadpool	No	Yes	Tim Miller
	X-Men: Apocalypse	Yes	Yes	Bryan Singer
2017	Logan	No	Yes	James Mangold
	Murder on the Orient Express	No	Yes	Kenneth Branagh
2018	Deadpool 2	No	Yes	David Leitch
2019	Dark Phoenix	Yes	Yes	Himself	Directorial debut
2020	The New Mutants	No	Yes	Josh Boone
2022	The 355	Yes	Yes	Himself
2023	A Haunting in Venice	No	Yes	Kenneth Branagh
2024	Lift	No	Yes	F. Gary Gray
	The Killer's Game	Rewrites	No	J. J. Perry	Post-production

Executive producer

• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter(2012)
• Death on the Nile(2022)
• Deadpool & Wolverine(2024)

Other credits

Year	Title	Role
2015	Star Wars: The Force Awakens	Creative consultant 'Thanks' credit
2016	Rogue One: A Star Wars Story	'Thanks' credit

Television

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Executive producer	Creator	Notes
2014–2018	Star Wars Rebels	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
2016–2019	Designated Survivor	No	No	Yes	No
2017–2019	The Gifted	No	No	Yes	No	Part of theX-Menfilm franchise
	Legion	No	No	Yes	No
2019–2020	The Twilight Zone	Yes	Yes	Yes	Developer	Directed "Blurryman" and wrote "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet"
2021	Invasion	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
2024	Sugar	No	No	Yes	No

Awards

He received a lifetime achievement award from theSaturn Awardsin 2016.

He was named #61 on the list of 100 most powerful people in Hollywood byThe Hollywood Reporterin 2016. The same year,The Hollywood Reporternamed Kinberg as the highest-paid screenwriter in Hollywood with a recordUS$16 millionfor twoX-Menscripts, and named him as one of the highest-paid producers in Hollywood withUS$40 millionforDeadpoolin their annual Hollywood Salaries issue.

Year	Title	Award	Category	Result
2015	Golden Globe Awards	Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy	The Martian	Won
	Academy Awards	Best Picture		Nominated
	Producers Guild of America Awards	Best Picture		Nominated
	National Board of Review	Best Film		Nominated
	Critics' Choice Movie Awards	Best Film		Nominated
2016		Best Comedy	Deadpool	Won
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy		Nominated
	Producers Guild of America Award	Best Picture		Nominated
2019	Golden Raspberry Award	Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel	Dark Phoenix	Nominated

External links

• Simon KinbergatIMDb