Richard Wenk (born 1956) is an American film screenwriter and director best known for his work on ''

The Expendables 2 ''The Expendables 2'' is a 2012 American action film directed by Simon West, written by Richard Wenk and Sylvester Stallone and based on a story by Ken Kaufman, David Agosto and Wenk. Brian Tyler returned to score the film. It is the sequel to ...

'' (2012), ''

The Equalizer ''The Equalizer'' is an American spy thriller multimedia franchise initially co-created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim, and originating with a CBS television series from 1985 to 1989, starring Edward Woodward. The concept was thereafte ...

'' (2014), and '' The Magnificent Seven'' (2016).

Early life

Wenk was born in 1956 in Metuchen, New Jersey. He graduated from Metuchen High School in 1974, and from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts in 1979.

Career

Wenk worked as an assistant to director

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...

on the 1982 film ''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

''. In 1984, he was recruited by

New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 197 ...

producer

Donald P. Borchers Donald P. Borchers is a film Film producer, producer, Film director, director, and screenwriter. Biography Donald P. Borchers is an American producer. Borchers was a production associate at AVCO Embassy Pictures, Avco Embassy Pictures in the ear ...

to write and direct the black comedy film ''

Vamp The VaMP driverless car was one of the first truly autonomous cars Dynamic Vision for Perc ...

'' (1986). Borchers had been impressed by Wenk's NYU thesis film, a musical vampire comedy short titled ''Dracula Bites the Big Apple''. In 1994, he directed the comedy film ''

Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 In. Women ''National Lampoon's Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 In. Women'' is a 1994 Showtime television film that parodies two sensational news stories from the 1990s: the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan incident, and the John and Lorena Bobbitt incident. The film is p ...

''. In 1998, he wrote and directed the film '' Just the Ticket''.Just the Ticket
/ref> In 2002, he directed the slasher film '' Wishcraft''. In 2006, he wrote the script for Richard Donner's last film ''

16 Blocks ''16 Blocks'' is a 2006 American crime-thriller film directed by Richard Donner and starring Bruce Willis, Mos Def, and David Morse. The film unfolds in the real time narration method. It marked the final directed film for Donner in addition to t ...

''. In 2011, he wrote the action film '' The Mechanic''. By 2012, he wrote Simon West's ensemble action film ''

''. In October 2012, he was hired to write the script for the '' Masters of the Universe reboot''. In 2014, he signed on to write the action film ''

'' and its two sequels. In 2016, he wrote the action films ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'', '' Jack Reacher: Never Go Back'', and '' The Magnificent Seven''. In 2017, he was hired to write the script and story for '' American Renegades''. In 2018, Wenk was hired to write the reboot of '' Universal Soldier''. In 2021, he wrote the action thriller film ''

The Protégé ''The Protégé'' is a 2021 American action thriller film directed by Martin Campbell, written by Richard Wenk, and starring Maggie Q, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Malahide, David Rintoul, Ori Pfeffer, Ray Fearon, Caroline Loncq ...

''. He was announced to be writing the upcoming films ''

Lethal Finale ''Lethal Weapon'' is an American buddy cop action-comedy media franchise created by Shane Black. It focuses on two Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detectives, Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh. The franchise consists of a series of four film ...

'', ''

Kraven the Hunter Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff; Russian: Сергей Кравинов) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' issue #15 (August 1964) as an adversary to ...

'', and '' Fast Charlie''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wenk, Richard 1956 births Living people 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters American male screenwriters Film directors from New Jersey Metuchen High School alumni People from Metuchen, New Jersey Screenwriters from New Jersey Tisch School of the Arts alumni