James Gray (born April 14, 1969) is an American film director and screenwriter. Since his feature debut '' Little Odessa'' in 1994, he has made seven other features, five of which competed for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

.CANNES 2000: Embracing Indiewood, Cannes 2000 Lineup Selected from Nearly 1,400 Films; 15 Countries, IndieWire
/ref>

Early life

Gray was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and grew up in the neighborhood of

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

. He is of Russian Jewish descent, with grandparents from

Ostropol Staryi Ostropil ( uk, Старий Остропіль, links=no), also known as Ostropil ( uk, Остропіль), is a selo on the Sluch River located in Khmelnytskyi Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast about 133 miles (222 km) WSW of Kyiv, Uk ...

Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austria ...

, which at that time was a part of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. The original family name was "Grayevsky" or "Greyzerstein." receiving widely divergent reviews from international critics. ''We Own the Night'' was released theatrically in the US on October 12, 2007.

2010s

His 2013 film '' The Immigrant'' was nominated for the

at the

2013 Cannes Film Festival The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and ...

. Earlier that year, Gray co-wrote the screenplay for

Guillaume Canet Guillaume Canet (; born 10 April 1973) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter, and show jumper. Canet began his career in theatre and television before moving to film. He starred in several films like '' Joyeux Noël'', '' Love Me I ...

's 2013 film '' Blood Ties'' with Canet. In 2015, Gray directed a television commercial for Chanel men's fragrance, ''

Bleu de Chanel Bleu de Chanel (literally translated as ''"Chanel's Blue"'' or ''"Blue Chanel"'') is a men's fragrance created by Jacques Polge for French fashion house Chanel in 2010. It was the first men's fragrance released by the brand since Allure Homme Sp ...

'', starring

Gaspard Ulliel Gaspard Thomas Ulliel (; 25 November 198419 January 2022) was a French actor. He was known for having portrayed the young Hannibal Lecter in ''Hannibal Rising'' (2007), fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent in the biopic '' Saint Laurent'' (2014 ...

. It was filmed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and released on February 5, 2015. In October 2016, Gray's film '' The Lost City of Z'' premiered at the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, i ...

. The film, based on the

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...

David Grann David Elliot Grann (born March 10, 1967) is an American journalist, a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, and a best-selling author. His first book, '' The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon,'' was published by D ...

, depicts the life of explorer Percy Fawcett, played by Charlie Hunnam. At the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, Gray announced plans to direct the sci-fi space epic '' Ad Astra''. Brad Pitt signed on to star in April 2017 and the rest of the cast joined later that year. ''Ad Astra'' premiered at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

on August 29, 2019 and was theatrically released in the United States on September 20, 2019 by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

2020s

On June 17, 2020, it was officially confirmed that his next film, titled ''

Armageddon Time ''Armageddon Time'' is a 2022 American coming-of-age drama film written, directed, and produced by James Gray. The film stars Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Banks Repeta, Jaylin Webb, and Anthony Hopkins. Inspired by Gray's childhood experience ...

'', would be a coming-of-age drama story of loyalty and friendship against the historical backdrop of Ronald Reagan's presidential election loosely based on Gray's childhood memories, with

Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, she was among the world's highest-paid actresses in 2 ...

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...

and Jeremy Strong cast in the film. The film had its world premiere at the

on May 19, 2022 and was released in the United States on October 28, 2022 by Focus Features.

Unrealized and upcoming projects

In January 2011, it was reported that Gray would be directing a film adaptation of

Mark Greaney Mark Greaney (born 23 June 1980) is an Irish musician. He is best known as the singer and guitarist in the alternative rock band JJ72, which he fronted from 1996 until 2006. He was later the frontman of Concerto for Constantine and describes ...

's novel ''

The Gray Man Grey man, The Gray Man or The Grey Man may refer to: Concepts * Grey man theory, a concept in everyday carry that one should blend in with the environment so as not to raise suspicion People * The primary nickname of American serial killer A ...

'' written by

Adam Cozad Adam Cozad is an American screenwriter best known for writing the scripts for '' Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit'', '' The Legend of Tarzan'', and '' Underwater''. Life and career Cozad was born and grew up in Chico, California, where he attended Not ...

. The project was first set up at

New Regency Regency Enterprises (commonly referred to as Regency onscreen and copyrighting as Regency Entertainment (USA), Inc. in the U.S. and Monarchy Enterprises S.á.r.l. overseas) is an American entertainment company formed by Arnon Milchan. It was foun ...

. Brad Pitt was initially cast to star, but by October 2015 he and Gray were no longer involved with the film. In August 2013, it was announced that

Warner Bros Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

tapped Gray to write and direct ''White Devil'', a film based on the life of John Willis. In April 2018,

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

closed a deal for Gray to direct ''I Am Pilgrim'', an adaptation of the espionage novel trilogy by

Terry Hayes Terry Hayes (born 8 October 1951) is an English-born Australian screenwriter, producer and author best known for his work with the Kennedy Miller film production house and his debut novel ''I Am Pilgrim''. Biography Born in Sussex, England, ...

. In April 2022, Gray announced plans to develop a series about Norman Mailer based on J. Michael Lennon's biography ''Norman Mailer: A Double Life''.

Personal life

Gray married Alexandra Dickson in 2005. The couple have three children.

Filmography

As director

Other film work

Television

Accolades

References

External links

*
James Gray - Chiaroscuro posted by KINO on VimeoJames Gray on AllMovie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, James 1969 births American male screenwriters American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Living people Film directors from New York City Jewish American screenwriters People from Flushing, Queens Screenwriters from New York (state) USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Writers from Queens, New York