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Simon Kinberg
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Simon Kinberg

Simon Kinberg was born in London, England. He was raised in Los Angeles, and went to college at Brown University, where he studied film and literature.

He entered Columbia University's Film School in 1998. In his first year, he sold a screenplay to producers Ira Deutchman and Peter Newman (Smoke). Deutchman was Kinberg's professor. That same year, in another class, Kinberg set up a script with producer Edward Pressman (Wall Street). The attention from these projects garnered Hollywood's attention. While at Columbia, Kinberg received the school's highest screenwriting award, the Zaki Gordon Fellowship. While still in film school, Kinberg sold his original pitch Ghost Town to Village Roadshow/Warner Brothers, and worked on scripts for Disney, Sony, and Dreamworks.

His final thesis project for his MFA was the original screenplay Mr. and Mrs. Smith. He pitched the concept to Academy-Award winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, who became the producer (and Kinberg's mentor). They pitched Mr. and Mrs. Smith to every studio -- all of whom passed (some twice). Foreign-sales company Summit bought the pitch. After reading the first draft, New Regency became involved. Nicole Kidman and Brad Pitt were attached to play John and Jane Smith, with director Doug Liman at the helm.

In May 2003, Mr. and Mrs. Smith went into pre-production, as Kinberg was graduating from film school. Kidman's schedule did not allow her to do the film, so her part was re-cast with Angelina Jolie. Kinberg spent almost every day on set, working closely with the director, producers, and actors (and even acting in one scene). The film was released in June 2005, and went on to become one of the highest -grossing films of the year, and one of the fifty highest grossing films of all time.

Last summer, Kinberg had XXX: State of the Union in wide release; the picture was directed by Lee Tamahori, and starred Samuel Jackson, Ice Cube and Willem Dafoe.

Currently, Kinberg is writing and producing Jumper for Doug Liman to direct at Regency Enterprises. He is writing and executive producing a Mr. and Mrs. Smith TV show for ABC. He also developed the script Jason and the Argonauts for director Stephen Sommers at Dreamworks, Merlin at Paramount Pictures, and Killer's Game at Intermedia.

Kinberg has set up a number of projects as a producer, including: Salem at Sony Pictures, and Invasion at Universal. He also has a blind TV-deal with Jerry Bruckheimer and Warner Brothers Television.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2006.

Simon Kinberg Facts

OccupationScreenwriter
BirthdayAugust 2, 1973 (50)
SignLeo
BirthplaceLondon, England, United Kingdom

Selected Filmography

Not available.