Matt Reeves
Matt Reeves is an American filmmaker. He first gained recognition for the WB drama series Felicity. Reeves came to widespread attention for directing the hit monster film Cloverfield, going on to helm the romantic horror film Let Me In and the critically acclaimed science fiction sequels Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes.
Early life
Reeves was born in Rockville Centre, New York, on Long Island. He moved with his family to Los Angeles when he was five, where he began making movies at age eight, directing friends and using a wind-up camera. Reeves met and befriended filmmaker J.J. Abrams when both were 13 years old and a Los Angeles public-access television cable channel, Z Channel, was airing their short films. When Reeves and Abrams were 15 or 16 years old, Steven Spielberg hired them to transfer some of his own Super 8 films to videotape.Reeves attended the University of Southern California. There, between 1991 and 1992, he produced an award-winning student film, Mr. Petrified Forest, which helped him acquire an agent; he also co-wrote a script that eventually became . After graduating, he co-wrote Cloverfield which he later directed.
Career
Reeves made his directorial film debut with the horror anthology film Future Shock, which was released in 1994. He also directed the romantic comedy film The Pallbearer, which co-starred Gwyneth Paltrow and David Schwimmer. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.Reeves received recognition for co-creating and showrunning the WB drama series Felicity, alongside J. J. Abrams. The series rain for 84 episodes from 1998 to 2002. Reeves directed several episodes of the series, including the pilot. He helmed episodes of various other television series, including Relativity, , and Gideon's Crossing, among others.
Reeves gained further success and worldwide recognition for directing the 2008 science fiction monster film Cloverfield, which Abrams produced. Reeves later served as an executive producer on 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Cloverfield Paradox. He wrote and directed the romantic horror film Let Me In, a remake of the Swedish film Let the Right One In. The remake was released on October 1, 2010, by Overture Films.
In October 2011, Reeves signed on to direct a film based on the classic television series The Twilight Zone, but he left the project in September 2012. Reeves directed the acclaimed science fiction film Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which was released to box office success in 2014. He returned to direct and write the third film in the series, War for the Planet of the Apes, which was released on July 14, 2017 to critical acclaim.
Reeves was set to produce a film adaptation of Mouse Guard, with Wes Ball signed on to direct the film. However, the project was cancelled two weeks before production was set to begin in April 2019, due to Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox. Reeves served as executive producer on the Fox science fiction thriller series The Passage, which aired for one season. He also executive produced the Prime Video science fiction drama series Tales from the Loop. The series, based on artwork by Simon Stålenhag, premiered to positive reviews in April 2020.
On July 6, 2020, it was announced that Reeves had signed an exclusive, multi-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television to develop new television programming for all of the company's platforms under his production company, 6th & Idaho.
Upcoming projects
In February 2017, Reeves was hired to direct and produce a Batman film, titled The Batman. He co-wrote the screenplay with Mattson Tomlin, and principal photography commenced in January 2020. The Batman is scheduled to be released on October 1, 2021, and will star Robert Pattinson.Reeves is set to serve as executive producer on the Netflix science fiction drama series Away, starring Hilary Swank.
Personal life
Reeves is married to Melinda Wang, a former animator. They have one son together.Filmography
Film
Executive producer- 10 Cloverfield Lane
- The Cloverfield Paradox
Television
Reception
Critical, public and commercial reception to films Reeves has directed as of July 6, 2020.| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore | Budget | Box office |
| The Pallbearer | 45% | $5 million | $7.65 million | ||
| Cloverfield | 77% | 64 | $25 million | $170.8 million | |
| Let Me In | 88% | 79 | $20 million | $24.1 million | |
| Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | 90% | 79 | $170 million | $710.6 million | |
| War for the Planet of the Apes | 94% | 82 | $150 million | $490.7 million |