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Alexandre Aja

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Alexandre Aja
Aja in 2015
Born
Alexandre Jouan-Arcady

(1978-08-07)7 August 1978(age 45)
Paris, France
Occupations
  • Film director
  • film producer
  • screenwriter
Years active1997–present
Notable workHaute Tension,The Hills Have Eyes,Mirrors,Piranha 3D,Oxygen
Parent
RelativesDiane Kurys(stepmother)
Sacha Sperling(half-brother)

Alexandre Jouan-Arcady,known professionally asAlexandre Aja(French:[alɛksɑ̃dʁaʒa];born 7 August 1978), is a French filmmaker best known for his work in thehorrorgenre. He rose to international stardom for his 2003 horror filmHaute Tension(known asHigh Tensionin the US andSwitchblade Romancein the UK). He has also directed the filmsThe Hills Have Eyes(2006),Mirrors(2008),Piranha 3D(2010),Horns(2013) andCrawl(2019).

Personal life[edit]

Aja's pseudonymous surname is formed from the initial letter of each of the three parts of his real name. He was born in Paris, France, and is the son of Jewish FrenchPied-NoirdirectorAlexandre Arcadyand French cinema critic Marie-Jo Jouan.[citation needed]

Career[edit]

Aja acted at a very young age in minor roles in his father's films such asLe Grand Carnaval[fr],and the twoLe Grand Pardon[fr]films.

He made his directorial debut at the age of eighteen with the short filmOver the Rainbow,which received aCannes Film FestivalGolden Palm Awardnomination for best short film. In 1999 he directedFuria,a film based onJulio Cortázar's short storyGraffiti.FromFuriaand his next features, he frequently works withGrégory Levasseuras writers such as inThe Hills Have Eyes,Mirrors,P2,andPiranha 3D.Levasseur also made his works as production designer too.

Aja in January 2011

Aja directedHaute Tension,which released in 2003 in France and in 2005 in the US, and placed Aja on the map of thehorror moviegenre. The French slasher, though sticking to horror conventions, pushed the envelope of gore and tension. The film is an unauthorized reinterpretation of the novel "Intensity",byDean Koontz.Favouring make-up effects over computer-generated imagery, the film quickly found respect among horror fans. It was released in the US asHigh Tension,after some editing. The film was nominated for the grand prize at the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival, and earned Aja awards for Best Direction and Best Fantasy Film at theSitges - Catalan International Film Festival.

After seeingHigh Tension,American directorWes Cravenasked Aja to come up with a concept for the remake of his 1977 filmThe Hills Have Eyes.Craven subsequently asked Aja to direct the movie, which was released with an R rating in the US after extensive editing.[1][failed verification]

His next project was a horror film entitledMirrors,about a mysterious mirror that brings out the worst aspects of people whenever they look at themselves in it. The film is a remake of theK-HorrorfilmInto the Mirror.Aja directedPiranha 3D,a horror movie about prehistoric piranhas in Arizona.[2]It is a remake of the 1978 filmPiranha.[3]

Because Aja was working onMirrors,he did not directThe Hills Have Eyes 2,which was released on 10 March 2007.[4][failed verification]

In 2004, Aja was named byVarietyon the Ten Directors to Watch list. He is a member of the so-calledSplat Pack,a term coined by film historianAlan JonesinTotal Filmmagazine for a new wave of directors making brutally violent horror films. The other Splat Pack members areDarren Lynn Bousman,Neil Marshall,Greg McLean,Eli Roth,James Wan,Leigh Whannell,andRob Zombie.

Aja has been associated with theNew French Extremityfilm movement.

Aja produceda remakeof the 1980 horror slasherManiac,starringElijah Wood.[5]The film was released in 2012. In 2013, he directed the dark fantasy thrillerHorns,starringDaniel Radcliffe,Juno Temple,Joe Anderson,James Remar,Kelli GarnerandMax Minghella.He also produced the 2014 horror filmThe Pyramiddirected byGrégory Levasseurand starringAshley Hinshaw,Denis O'Hare,andJames Buckley.Aja produced and directed the 2016 psychological thriller filmThe 9th Life of Louis Drax,which is based on a novel byLiz Jensen.[6]

Aja is set to direct a live action adaptation of the manga seriesSpace Adventure Cobra,[7]and theMice and Mysticsfilm forDreamworks Animation.[8]In 2019, Alexandre Aja directed his highest grossing and best-reviewed film yet,Crawl.

Filmography[edit]

Year Title Director Producer Writer Notes Ref(s)
1999 Furia Yes No Yes [9]
2002 Entre chiens et loups[fr] No No Yes Also second assistant director [10]
2003 High Tension Yes No Yes [11]
2006 The Hills Have Eyes Yes No Yes [12][13]
2007 P2 No Yes Yes Also story author [14]
2008 Mirrors Yes No Yes [15]
2010 Piranha 3D Yes Yes No [16]
2012 Maniac No Yes Yes [17][18]
2013 Horns Yes Yes No [19][20]
2014 The Pyramid No Yes No [21][22]
2016 The Other Side of the Door No Yes No [23]
The 9th Life of Louis Drax Yes Yes No [24]
2019 Crawl Yes Yes No [25]
2021 Oxygen Yes Yes No [26]
2023 Night of the Hunted No Yes No [27]
2024 Never Let Go Yes Yes No Post-production [28]

Other credits

Year Title Role Ref(s)
2004 Mariage mixte Second unit director [29]
2005 Marock Artistic advisor, technical advisor [30][31]
2013 Rock the Casbah Associate producer [32]
2017 La Rage du démon Himself [33]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Piranha 3D New Title Treatment and Updated Website".28 August 2012.
  2. ^Ditzian, Eric (30 March 2010)."'Piranha 3-D' Director Talks Nudity, Blood And The Future Of 3-D ".MTV News.Archived fromthe originalon 18 May 2015.
  3. ^"Alex Aja Defends Post 3-D 'Piranha', Talks Blood and Guts".Bloody Disgusting.31 March 2010.
  4. ^"25 of the Decade's Most Influential Figures in Horror".January 2010.
  5. ^Fleming, Mike Jr. (4 November 2011)."Elijah Wood Finds Killer Role In 'Maniac'".Deadline.
  6. ^"The 9th Life Of Louis Drax".Bloody Disgusting.29 January 2015.
  7. ^Fleming, Mike Jr. (18 August 2010)."Alex Aja Goes from 'Piranha 3D' to 'Cobra: Space Pirate'".Deadline.
  8. ^McNary, Dave (24 October 2018)."DreamWorks Animation to Develop 'Mice and Mystics' Movie (EXCLUSIVE)".Variety.Retrieved24 February2022.
  9. ^"Furia (1999) Alexandre Aja".Bifi.fr(in French).Retrieved26 December2017.
  10. ^"Entre chiens et loups (2001) Alexandre Arcady".Bifi.fr(in French).Retrieved26 December2017.
  11. ^"Haute tension (1999) Alexandre Aja".Bifi.fr(in French).Retrieved26 December2017.
  12. ^"The Hills Have Eyes (2005) Alexandre Aja".Bifi.fr(in French).Retrieved26 December2017.
  13. ^"The Hills Have Eyes".American Film Institute.Retrieved26 December2017.
  14. ^"P2".American Film Institute.Retrieved26 December2017.
  15. ^"Mirrors".American Film Institute.Retrieved26 December2017.
  16. ^"Piranha 3D".American Film Institute.Retrieved26 December2017.
  17. ^"Piranha 3D".American Film Institute.Retrieved26 December2017.
  18. ^Nelson, Rob (26 May 2012)."Maniac".Variety.Retrieved27 December2017.
  19. ^"Horns".American Film Institute.Retrieved26 December2017.
  20. ^Goldberg, Matt (30 July 2013)."TIFF 2013 Vanguard Line-Up Announced; Includes Alexandre Aja's HORNS Starring Daniel Radcliffe".collider.Retrieved31 July2013.
  21. ^Anthony D'Alessandro (4 December 2014)."Majors Take A Holiday From New Wide Releases – Weekend Box Office Preview".Deadline.Retrieved5 December2014.
  22. ^"The Pyramid"(in French). Bifi.fr.Retrieved27 December2017.
  23. ^"The Other Side of the Door"(in French). Bifi.fr.Retrieved27 December2017.
  24. ^"The 9th Life of Louis Drax".Variety.2 September 2016.Retrieved27 December2017.
  25. ^Kit, Borys (1 May 2018)."Alexandre Aja, Sam Raimi Team for Paramount Horror Thriller 'Crawl' (Exclusive)".The Hollywood Reporter.Retrieved21 August2018.
  26. ^Tartaglione, Nancy (23 July 2020)."Netflix Boards Alexandre Aja-Directed Thriller 'O2'; Mélanie Laurent To Star".Deadline Hollywood.Retrieved23 July2020.
  27. ^Nash, Anthony (27 September 2023)."Night of the Hunted Trailer Previews New Shudder Horror Movie".Yahoo entertainment.Retrieved6 November2023.
  28. ^Wiseman, Andreas (9 May 2022)."Halle Berry To Star In Thriller 'Mother Land' For Lionsgate, 'Stranger Things' Outfit 21 Laps & Director Alexandre Aja — Cannes Market Hot Pic".Deadline Hollywood.Retrieved3 February2023.
  29. ^"Mariage mixte".Bifi.fr(in French).Retrieved26 December2017.
  30. ^"Haute tension (1999) Alexandre Aja".Bifi.fr(in French).Retrieved26 December2017.
  31. ^"Marock"(in French).Cannes Film Festival.Retrieved26 December2017.
  32. ^"Rock the casbah".Bifi.fr.Retrieved27 December2017.
  33. ^"La Rage du démon (2016)"(in French). Bifi.fr.Retrieved27 December2017.

External links[edit]

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