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Uwe Boll (; born June 22, 1965) is a German filmmaker. He came to prominence during the 2000s for his adaptations of video game franchises which often starred international stars like
Jason Statham Jason Statham (; born 26 July 1967) is an English actor. He is known for portraying characters in various action-thriller films who are typically tough, hardboiled, gritty, or violent. Statham began practising Chinese martial arts, kickboxing ...
,
Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...
,
Ray Liotta Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's ''Goodfellas'' (1990). He was a Primeti ...
,
Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." D ...
,
Elisabeth Moss Elisabeth Singleton Moss (born July 24, 1982) is an American actor. She is known for her work in several television dramas, earning such accolades as two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, which led ''Vulture'' to name her the ...
,
Nate Parker Nate Parker (born November 18, 1979) is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He has appeared in ''Beyond the Lights'', ''Red Tails'', '' The Secret Life of Bees'', ''The Great Debaters'', ''Arbitrage'', ''Non-Stop'', ''Fe ...
,
J. K. Simmons Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor, considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation. He has appeared in over 200 films and television roles since his debut in 1986. He ...
and
Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two ...
. Released theatrically, the films were critical and commercial failures; his 2005 ''Alone in the Dark'' adaptation is considered one of the worst films ever made. Boll's films during the 2010s, comprising mostly original projects and independent movies, received home media releases to better, although still mostly negative reviews. After retiring in 2016 to become a restaurateur, Boll announced his return to filmmaking in 2020. His films are financed through his production companies
Boll KG ''Boll KG'' is the personal production company of German filmmaker Uwe Boll. It is headquartered in Bergrheinfeld, Bavaria.
and Event Film Productions.


Early life

Boll was born in
Wermelskirchen Wermelskirchen (; Ripuarian: ''Wärmelßkirrshe'') is a town in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, southeast of Remscheid. It is home to one of Europe's biggest live Christmas trees (measuring 26m). Coat of arms ...
and studied at the
University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...
. He holds a
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
in literature; in 1994, he published a dissertation (doctorate thesis) at the
University of Siegen The University of Siegen (german: Universität Siegen) is a public research university located in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia and is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, a society of Germany's leading research universities. The Univers ...
. Boll first decided to go into the movie business at ten years old after seeing
Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...
's ''
Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and set h ...
''.


Career


Films

Boll's first two major releases were the horror movie '' Blackwoods'' and the drama '' Heart of America'', both of which he directed and co-wrote. The lead actress in '' Heart of America'' was
Elisabeth Moss Elisabeth Singleton Moss (born July 24, 1982) is an American actor. She is known for her work in several television dramas, earning such accolades as two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, which led ''Vulture'' to name her the ...
. He achieved recognition for loosely adapting video games into movies, having directed and produced a number of such adaptations, including '' House of the Dead'', '' Alone in the Dark'', '' Alone in the Dark II'', ''
BloodRayne ''BloodRayne'' is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series originally developed by Terminal Reality and published by Majesco Entertainment which began with the game of the same name in 2002. The franchise f ...
'', '' BloodRayne 2: Deliverance'', '' BloodRayne: The Third Reich'', ''
In the Name of the King ''In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale'', or simply ''In the Name of the King'', is a 2007 action-fantasy film directed by Uwe Boll and starring Jason Statham, Claire Forlani, Leelee Sobieski, John Rhys-Davies, Ron Perlman and Ray Liott ...
'', '' In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds'', '' In the Name of the King 3: The Last Mission'', '' Postal'', and ''
Far Cry ''Far Cry'' is an anthology franchise of first-person shooter games, all of which have been published by Ubisoft. The first game, ''Far Cry'', was developed by Crytek to premiere their CryEngine software, and released in March 2004. Subsequent ...
''. In the opening credits to ''
Seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...
'' (2007), Boll used footage of animal abuse and torture he acquired from
PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, an ...
to underscore the film's
nihilism Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning. The term was popularized by Ivan ...
. He has also promised to donate 2.5 percent of his net profits from ''Seed'' to PETA. In September 2010, a trailer for Boll's film, titled ''
Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
'', about the
concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
, was posted on YouTube. The trailer, in which Boll appears as an SS gas chamber guard, contains explicit scenes of the brutalization and killing of concentration camp inmates. Boll has been quoted as saying that films such as ''
Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film fo ...
'' "no longer had the ability to reach young people and that it was his duty as a German to make the film as a way of confronting the past." In 2010 Boll was the subject of a documentary film titled ''Raging Boll'', directed by Dan West, which premiered at the
Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers’ creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the ...
in October 2010. In March 2012, it was announced he had finished directing a short horror story for the anthology film ''
The Profane Exhibit ''The Profane Exhibit'' is a 2013 International anthology horror film written and directed by various filmmakers specialized in the genre. Segments *''Basement'' (based on the Fritzl case), directed by Uwe Boll *''Bridge'', directed by Ruggero ...
''. The story, inspired by
Josef Fritzl The Fritzl case emerged in 2008, when a woman named Elisabeth Fritzl (born 6 April 1966) told police in the town of Amstetten, Lower Austria, Austria, that she had been held captive for 24 years by her father, Josef Fritzl (born 9 April 1935). J. ...
, focuses on parents with a daughter locked in a room, where they can partake in immoral acts against her. Boll planned a fourth entry in the ''BloodRayne'' franchise in a contemporary setting involving her trying to live a normal life. Natassia Malthe was expected to return, and was expected to be loosely based on the video game ''BloodRayne 2''. In August 2013, Boll announced plans to produce a sequel to '' Postal'' based on achieving $500,000 from a
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
campaign. The campaign was however cancelled on 5 October 2013. In October 2016, during an interview with the Toronto edition of ''Metro'', Boll announced his retirement from filmmaking, chiefly citing the decline of DVD and
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
sales, noting that he has had to use his own money to finance his work since 2005. As of 2017, he still works as a film producer. In February 2018, he revealed in his
vlog A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...
that he intends to return to film and has sent proposals to
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
. However, he no longer wants to finance his projects. In November 2018, Boll was the subject of a second documentary film titled ''Fuck You All: The Uwe Boll Story'', directed by Sean Patrick Shaul and produced by Prairie Coast Films, which premiered at the 2018
Whistler Film Festival The Whistler Film Festival (WFF) is an annual film festival held in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 2001, the festival is held the first weekend of December and includes juried competitive sections, the Borsos Awards, and the Pand ...
. In October 2020, Boll decided to return to making films and announced ''Germany in Winter'' as his next project in development.


Financing

Boll's films have often performed poorly at the box office in the United States and around the world. '' House of the Dead'', which was budgeted at $12 million, made $5.73 million in its opening weekend, '' Alone in the Dark'', which was budgeted at $20 million, made $5.1 million, and ''
BloodRayne ''BloodRayne'' is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series originally developed by Terminal Reality and published by Majesco Entertainment which began with the game of the same name in 2002. The franchise f ...
'', which was made for $25 million, made $2.42 million. The least profitable commercial performance of his career was ''
In the Name of the King ''In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale'', or simply ''In the Name of the King'', is a 2007 action-fantasy film directed by Uwe Boll and starring Jason Statham, Claire Forlani, Leelee Sobieski, John Rhys-Davies, Ron Perlman and Ray Liott ...
'', which grossed a little over $10 million worldwide on a $60 million budget. In the DVD commentary of ''Alone in the Dark'', Boll explains how he funds his films: "Maybe you know it but it's not so easy to finance movies in total. And the reason I am able to do these kind of movies is I have a tax shelter fund in Germany, and if you invest in a movie in Germany you get basically fifty percent back from the government." Boll has received significant negative publicity regarding this funding method, attributed to a loophole in the German tax laws that was finally closed in 2006.


Writings

Boll has written two books, ''Wie man in Deutschland einen Film drehen muss'' (''How one must make a movie in Germany'') and ''Die Gattung Serie und ihre Genres'' (''Genus Series and its Genres''), on themes of serial television.


Reception and reputation

As of April 2015, '' House of the Dead'' (for which VideoHound's "Golden Movie Retriever" described Boll as a "cinematic train wreck")Craddock, Jim, editor. ''VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever'' (Detroit, Michigan: Thomson Gale, 2007), p.416. and '' Alone in the Dark'' appear on
IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
's "Bottom 100" film list. In a review of ''Alone in the Dark'', Rob Vaux states that the movie makes other "bad" movie directors feel better in comparison: "'It's okay,' they'll tell themselves, 'I didn't make ''Alone in the Dark''.'" Another reviewer wrote that ''Alone in the Dark'' was "so poorly built, so horribly acted and so sloppily stitched together that it's not even at the
straight-to-DVD Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...
level." One critic has dubbed him as the "
Jonas Brothers The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band. Formed in 2005, they gained popularity from their appearances on the Disney Channel television network. They consist of three brothers: Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised in W ...
of movie directors". After Boll was linked to a potential film adaptation of the ''
Metal Gear is a series of techno-thriller stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX home computers. The player often takes control of a special forces operativ ...
'' franchise, series creator
Hideo Kojima is a Japanese video game designer, director, producer and writer. He is regarded as an auteur of video games. He developed a strong passion for action/adventure cinema and literature during his childhood and adolescence. In 1986, he was hired ...
responded, "It's impossible that we'd ever do a movie with him." Boll also made a bid to direct the 2016 ''
Warcraft ''Warcraft'' is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of five core games: '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', '' Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness'', '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos ...
'' movie, but was turned away by the owners of the ''
Warcraft ''Warcraft'' is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of five core games: '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', '' Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness'', '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos ...
'' franchise,
Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three graduat ...
, who said: "We will not sell the movie rights, not to you…especially not to you." Boll commented: "Because it's such a big online game success, maybe a bad movie would destroy that ongoing income, what the company has with it." Blair Erickson, a writer of a treatment for ''Alone in the Dark'', has written a critical account of his experience working with Boll, in which Erickson alleges that Boll stole ideas from prior movies and wanted to add elements to the story that were not true to the tone of the source material. Boll chose to not use Erickson's script, citing reasons such as it having "not enough car chases." Boll has blamed the poor theatrical performance of his early video game adaptations on his distribution company, Romar, and has filed a lawsuit against them. Boll's films prior to the release of ''House of the Dead'' were more positively received. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', for instance, gave '' Blackwoods'' a positive review, although most reactions to the film have been negative. Boll received a rare " Worst Career Achievement" award at the 29th
Golden Raspberry Awards The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...
on 21 February 2009 for ''
In the Name of the King ''In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale'', or simply ''In the Name of the King'', is a 2007 action-fantasy film directed by Uwe Boll and starring Jason Statham, Claire Forlani, Leelee Sobieski, John Rhys-Davies, Ron Perlman and Ray Liott ...
'', '' 1968 Tunnel Rats'', and '' Postal''. He has been nominated for Razzies three times in total. In September 2010, ''
Darfur Darfur ( ; ar, دار فور, Dār Fūr, lit=Realm of the Fur) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju ( ar, دار داجو, Dār Dājū, links=no) while ruled by the Daju, ...
'' won the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival prize for the best international film.


Response to criticism

In the '' Alone in the Dark'' DVD commentary, he responds to criticism that his adaptations make significant changes to the plot and style of the source material: "Fans are always totally flipping out and I understand that the fan of a video game has his own agenda in his head and has his ideas about what is a good movie and what is a bad movie." Referring to '' House of the Dead'', Boll said: "I think I made a perfect ''House of the Dead'' movie, because it really shows how the game is. It's a lot of fun, it's over-the-top action." Boll is especially critical of his Internet detractors. Referring to two
Ain't It Cool News Ain't It Cool News (AICN) is an entertainment news website founded by Harry Knowles and run by his sister Dannie Knowles since September 2017, dedicated to news, rumors, and reviews of upcoming and current films, television, and comic book proje ...
critics who negatively reviewed his work, Boll said, "
Harry Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
(Knowles) and Quint (Eric Vespe) are retards." Boll later claimed Knowles was being "played" by film studios that "kissed his ass" with set visits and pretend offers to produce large-budget films and suggested to Knowles the reason he did not like him was because, "I never kissed your ass, Harry." Boll also criticizes the game companies themselves for not providing support to the production following the selling of the film rights. He cites the cross-promotion and support that comic book-based properties adapted for the screen receive, whereas video game companies often "sell off the license and then forget about it." He argues that this is the reason video game adaptations are not well received by critics and audiences. When ''
Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...
'' published a negative review of ''Postal'', Boll responded with an email claiming that the critic didn't "understand anything about movies and that you are an untalented wannabe filmmaker with no balls and no understanding what ''POSTAL'' is. You don't see courage because you are nothing. and no go to your mom and fuck her ...because she cooks for you now since 30 years ..so she deserves it" . Boll stated that this angry email was sparked not by the review, but because the ''Wired'' editor told Boll in person that they loved the movie and then published a negative review.


Critic boxing matches – "Raging Boll"

Boll made headlines by challenging his critics to "put up or shut up". In June 2006, his production company issued a press release stating that Boll would challenge his five harshest critics each to a 10-round boxing match. Invitations were also open to film directors
Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
and
Roger Avary Roger Roberts Avary (born August 23, 1965) is a Canadian-American film and television director, screenwriter, and producer. He collaborated with Quentin Tarantino on ''Pulp Fiction'', for which they won Best Original Screenplay at the 67th Acad ...
. To qualify, critics had to have written two extremely negative reviews of Boll, in print or on the Web. In 2005, footage from the fights were to be included on the DVD of his upcoming film '' Postal''. On 20 June 2006, Rich "Lowtax" Kyanka stated on
Something Awful ''Something Awful'' (SA) is an American comedy website hosting content including blog entries, forums, feature articles, digitally edited pictures, and humorous media reviews. It was created by Richard "Lowtax" Kyanka in 1999 as a largely per ...
that he had been invited by Boll to be the first contestant, after Kyanka reviewed ''Alone in the Dark''. The online gambling site
GoldenPalace.com GoldenPalace.com is an online casino that operates under a license granted by CIGA (Curaçao Internet Gaming Association). They are known for their publicity stunts and large "bonuses" that had to be wagered up to fifty times before claiming. On ...
decided to sponsor this event, dubbing it "Raging Boll" (a play on the 1980
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
film ''
Raging Bull ''Raging Bull'' is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, produced by Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler and adapted by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin from Jake LaMotta's 1970 memoir '' Raging Bull: My St ...
''). A lot was drawn up in late August 2006, featuring Kyanka, ''Rue Morgue'' magazine writer Chris Alexander, webmaster of ''Cinecutre'' Carlos Palencia Jimenez-Arguello, ''
Ain't it Cool News Ain't It Cool News (AICN) is an entertainment news website founded by Harry Knowles and run by his sister Dannie Knowles since September 2017, dedicated to news, rumors, and reviews of upcoming and current films, television, and comic book proje ...
'' writer Jeff Sneider, and Chance Minter, amateur boxer and website critic. Boll fought and won against all five participants. The first match took place on 5 September 2006 in
Estepona Estepona () is a town and municipality in the comarca of the Costa del Sol, southern Spain. It is located in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its district covers an area of 137 square kilometers in a fertile ...
, Spain, against Carlos Palencia. The others battled on 23 September 2006, at the
Plaza of Nations The Plaza of Nations was an entertainment complex located on the northeast shore of False Creek in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was part of the British Columbia Pavilion during Expo '86, and along with Science World, Canada Place, and the R ...
in
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, Canada. After Kyanka lost his match, he would go on to make several allegations against Boll, including a claim that Boll refused to fight against Chance Minter who was an experienced amateur boxer. However, Boll fought Minter as his fourth opponent. He also alleged that Boll had misled them by claiming that it was a PR stunt when he actually intended to fight them, and that Boll stated that the participants would get training before the match, which none did.Rich "Lowtax" Kyanka - video interview after the match
Retrieved 2013-02-03.
Kyanka added in a post-match interview that, "Half of us (the contenders) hadn't even seen his movies." Sneider shared similar sentiments, stating "I think he's a jerk. This might be PR but I don't want to keep getting punched in the head." Boll has denied these claims in an interview, stating that he gave his opponents three months to prepare. Other contestants responded less negatively. Alexander, in a ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'' article, recounts being invited to Boll's beach house on the following day, where Boll asked him about the reasons for his negative reviews. Alexander bluntly told Boll that his movies were "bloated, expensive and incoherent attempts at aping American genre pictures, sporting some of the most boneheaded casting choices in filmdom". He also stated that Boll was an "insane, two-fisted rogue, and a shockingly honest one at that, someone who absolutely adores film, knows its history and truly lives for what he does." Alexander referred to the event as "the weirdest pop culture bizarre journalism stunt I've ever been involved in." Minter also praised what he had seen of Boll's upcoming production known as ''Seed''. Boll praised the contestants in a post fight press conference, stating "I now like the critics... Everybody who was in the ring showed guts. Nobody dived."
Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...
's November 2006 edition's "The Rest of the Crap" section, written by critic
Seanbaby Sean Patrick Reiley (born June 15, 1976), better known as Seanbaby, is an American writer and video-game designer best known for his comedy website and frequent contributions to video game media outlets ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' and 1UP.com, ...
, described Seanbaby's own involvement. Boll was going to appear on G4's ''
Attack of the Show! ''Attack of the Show!'' (''AOTS'') is an American live television program and that aired on G4. AOTS features segments on pop culture, video games, and movies. After an initial run from 2005 to 2013 (which originally aired from 2005 until 2013 ...
'' to promote this fight by sparring with one of the hosts. Seanbaby stated that, "Again, he's a matchmaking genius, because everyone on TV is three feet tall. If you were watching ''Attack of the Show'' during the time I cohosted, you might have noticed that I could have leaned over and eaten host
Kevin Pereira Kevin Elder Pereira (born December 28, 1982) is an American television personality and host. Early life While he was 14, Pereira hosted ''Pointless Audio'' under the pseudonym Captain Immy.Stephen A. Johnson (April 15, 2006)AOTS hosts Kevin Pere ...
." A producer of the show then asked if Seanbaby would come and spar in the host's place for the event. Seanbaby said that he trains in
muay thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...
and
Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...
, stating that "boxing is to fighting what
Hungry Hungry Hippos Hungry Hungry Hippos (or Hungry Hippos in some UK editions) is a tabletop game made for 2–4 players, produced by Hasbro, under the brand of its subsidiary, Milton Bradley. The idea for the game was published in 1967 by toy inventor Fred Krol ...
is to fighting", but that he was eager to fight Boll nonetheless. When Boll heard of this, he wanted to know Seanbaby's age, height, weight and fighting experience since he "learned he wasn't fighting a midget." Seanbaby stated he sent said information to Boll, after which Boll chose not to appear on the program. Boll similarly declined to fight Canadian comedian Ron Sparks.


Petition to retire

In April 2008, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' ran an article claiming Boll had promised to retire if an online petition at PetitionOnline.com asking him to do so received 1,000,000 signatures. A petition was later started on the site in response, with the 1,000,000 signature goal. On 7 May 2008, the makers of
Stride gum Stride is a brand of sugar-free chewing gum created by Cadbury (owned by Mondelēz International), sold in packs of 14 pieces. It was introduced in May 2006. Current flavors There are 20 flavors in total. * Always Mandarin * Eternal Melon * Fore ...
announced they would give each signer a digital coupon for a pack of gum if the petition obtained the required 1 million signatures by 14 May 2008. This deadline ultimately passed without the petition reaching 1 million signatures. In a later interview with Mike Gencarelli of the ''Movie Mikes'' website on 22 March 2010, Boll stated that he would not retire if the petition received one million signatures, commenting:
"I think no, it has been too long. If they would have made it to a million in like two months, then they would have had something. They even got sponsored by that gum factory. I felt like it's three years later, forget it. I also felt that people signed numerous times on the petition so it is probably only like 150,000 people that actually signed it."
The petition itself failed to reach one million signatures by the time PetitionOnline shut down on 30 September 2014, peaking at about 353,835 signatures.


Response

As part of a publicity stunt for ''Postal'', Boll released a video claiming that he is "the only genius in the whole fucking
ovie Ovie is a given name, nickname and surname. It may refer to: Nickname * Alexander Ovechkin (born 1985), Russian ice hockey player * Ovie Alston (1905–1989), American jazz trumpeter, vocalist, and bandleader * Ovie Ejaria (born 1997), English foo ...
business" and that other directors such as
Michael Bay Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of ...
and
Eli Roth Eli Raphael Roth (born April 18, 1972) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. As a director and producer, he is most closely associated with the horror genre, having directed the films '' Cabin Fever'' (2003) and ''Hoste ...
are "fucking retards". He promised that his film '' Postal'' would be "way better than all that social-critic
George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...
bullshit that you get every fucking weekend". In response to an "Anti-Uwe Boll" online petition, Boll has also expressed hopes that somebody will start a Pro-Uwe Boll petition, which he would expect to hit a million signatures. As of 22 July 2012, the pro-Uwe Boll petition with the most signatures is the ''Long Live Uwe Boll'' poll with a total of 7,631 signatures. Bay responded to the "fucking retards" comment by calling Boll "a sad being" and stated that he did not care "in the slightest" about the remark, while Roth facetiously described Boll's comments as the "greatest compliment ever". Boll later noted that the comments were meant to paint a generic picture over Hollywood, and that he has nothing against the people mentioned. Boll then appeared on Thursday, 10 April's episode of G4's ''
Attack of the Show ''Attack of the Show!'' (''AOTS'') is an American live television program and that aired on G4 (American TV network), G4. AOTS features segments on pop culture, video games, and movies. After an initial run from 2005 to 2013 (which originally a ...
'', where he was interviewed in the nude regarding his controversial online retort. In the interview, he said (in regard to Michael Bay and Eli Roth responding to his criticisms) that Roth "has a sense of humor" and that Bay "has no sense of humor". He also jokingly stated that he believes that his upcoming adaptation of ''Postal'' (from the video game of the same name) could beat ''
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' is a 2008 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and the fourth installment in the ''Indiana Jones'' series. Released and taking place 19 years after the previous ...
'' at the box office. On 27 April 2008, Boll responded to Bay's "not caring about Boll" comment. "To prove who is the better director", Boll offered to challenge Bay to a boxing match at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. If Bay accepted, the match would last for 12 rounds and would take place in September. In response to Boll's offer, Bay again posted a statement, this time saying:
"I never even heard his name till last week when he made threats and rants. The guy is a fucking idiot, making threats to me, Clooney, Eli Roth, says he has a doctorate—but uses the word "retard" in his vocabulary, come on. When you look at his videos, what is interesting are the backgrounds. I guess his low rent offices, with 15 year old 3/4 machines, archaic computers, this is just some dumb chump trying to get some fame when he has none, so he has to make YouTube lame quality anger rants. This guy just wants attention because he can't get any for the so called movies he makes. Nothing sadder when he had his screening in LA to an over half empty movie house."
On 7 June 2015, Boll released a video on his
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
account titled "fuck you all", targeting those who did not fund his last film, then tentatively titled ''Rampage 3'', on
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
as he was unable to secure enough funds. The video quickly became popular and has over 1.9 million views as of June 2021. On 20 October 2016, in an interview with the Toronto, Canada edition of ''
Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
'', Boll announced that '' Rampage: President Down'', released a month earlier in September 2016, was his last film, citing market failures and funding difficulties. In the film's final credits, Boll can be seen tipping his hat and walking away from the camera.


Restaurants

Following his retirement from filmmaking, Boll entered the restaurant industry. His desire to become a restaurateur came from his own love of fine dining. He claims to have visited 120
Michelin-starred The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...
restaurants within a span of 10 years, and has made a short video series of restaurant reviews. In 2015, Boll opened the Bauhaus Restaurant in
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, after noting a lack of
German cuisine The cuisine of Germany () is made up of many different local or regional cuisines, reflecting the country's federal history. Germany itself is part of the larger cultural region of Central Europe, sharing many culinary traditions with neighbo ...
in the city. He hired Stefan Hartmann as executive chef, who earned a Michelin star for his own Hartmanns Restaurant in Berlin. Hartmann resigned from Bauhaus in April 2017, to be replaced by chefs David Mueller and Tim Schulte. Bauhaus has received overall positive reviews from local and international food critics. The restaurant ranked 37th on the 2016 list of Canada's 100 Best Restaurants. It is also listed in The World's 50 Best Restaurants Discovery Series in 2017, being one of only three Canadian restaurants to be included. Boll has remarked about his newfound success in owning a restaurant: "It's interesting, right? I had to open up a restaurant to get good reviews." In early 2018, Boll and his wife Natalie formed the Bauhaus Group to expand business. The group acquired the Blenheim Pub in Vancouver, changing it from a sports bar to a family-oriented restaurant. The restaurant has since closed. They also announced plans to open a second Bauhaus Restaurant location in Toronto in early 2019. A third location in China is also planned, to be opened in the
Ocean Flower Island Ocean Flower Island (), or Haihua Island, is an under-construction, artificial archipelago located off the north coast of Danzhou, Hainan, China, west of the Yangpu Peninsula. The project, being built by the Evergrande Group, will consist of thre ...
artificial archipelago and led by two European Michelin-starred chefs.


Personal life

Boll previously lived in Richmond Hill,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. He currently lives in
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
. Despite having lived in Canada for many years, he still retains his German citizenship. He married Canadian film producer Natalia Tudge in 2014. Together, they have a son and a stepson.


Filmography


Film


Music videos


References


External links

* * *
Golden Palace Events
– Photos, video, and details of Uwe's September 2006 boxing match with his critics {{DEFAULTSORT:Boll, Uwe 1965 births English-language film directors Film directors from Vancouver Film people from North Rhine-Westphalia German emigrants to Canada German restaurateurs Horror film directors Living people Naturalized citizens of Canada People from the Rhine Province University of Cologne alumni University of Siegen alumni