Jonathan Watts (born June 28, 1981) is an American filmmaker. His credits include directing the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

(MCU)

superhero film A superhero film (or superhero movie) is a film that focuses on the actions of superheroes. Superheroes are individuals who possess superhuman abilities and are dedicated to protecting the public. These films typically feature Action film, ac ...

s '' Spider-Man: Homecoming'', '' Spider-Man: Far From Home'', and '' Spider-Man: No Way Home''. He was additionally signed to direct the upcoming Marvel Studios-produced ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...

'' film only to exit the project in April 2022. He also directed and co-wrote the

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

Clown A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in ...

'' and

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

'' Cop Car'' as well as directing numerous episodes of the

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

television news series ''

Onion News Network ''Onion News Network'' is a parody television news show that ran for two seasons of ten episodes each, both during 2011, on the Independent Film Channel. History In March 2007, ''The Onion'' launched ''The Onion News Network'', a daily web v ...

''. In terms of creating

music videos A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

, Watts has collaborated with

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

artists such as

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

and

Swedish House Mafia Swedish House Mafia (SHM) is a Swedish house music supergroup consisting of Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso. The group officially formed in late 2008, were placed at number ten on the ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJ Poll 2011, and have been ...

among other musicians.

Early life

Watts was born on June 28, 1981 and raised in

Fountain, Colorado The City of Fountain is a home rule municipality located in El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 29,802 at the 2020 United States Census, a +15.31% increase since the 2010 United States Census. Fountain is a part of ...

, where he attended Fountain-Fort Carson High School. He studied film at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Career

Watts began his directing career by directing commercials for production company Park Pictures. Watts' film career started with the short ''Clay Pride: Being Clay in America''. A

claymation Clay animation or claymation, sometimes plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay. Tra ...

film, it is a satire of films about gay issues, with the main character, Steve Thompson, coming out as "clay". Over the next decade, Watts would continue to work in short films, as well as directing several music videos for various artists including

Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyboar ...

Relient K Relient K is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio, by Matt Thiessen, Matt Hoopes, and Brian Pittman Board Message during the band members' third year in high school and their time at Malone University. The band is named after ...

, Sleigh Bells,

Head Automatica Head Automatica was an American Rock music, rock band from Brooklyn, New York (state), New York fronted by Daryl Palumbo (also of Glassjaw). History The beginnings of the band stemmed from singer Daryl Palumbo's interests in the hip hop music ...

, and

TV on the Radio TV on the Radio (TVOTR) is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, loops), David Andrew Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars, bass, loops), and Jale ...

. Watts' feature directorial debut was the 2014 horror film, ''

''. Watts and his friend Christopher Ford had made a fake trailer for a film about a father turning into a killer clown after trying on an old costume he finds in his basement. After uploading the trailer to

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 ...

, Watts was approached by

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 ...

with an offer to produce a feature version. Watts' next film was the 2015 thriller, '' Cop Car''. The film is about two young boys who steal an abandoned police car and are pursued by its murderous owner, a Sheriff played by

Kevin Bacon Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. His films include the musical-drama film '' Footloose'' (1984), the controversial historical conspiracy legal thriller '' JFK'' (1991), the legal drama '' A Few Good Men'' (1992), t ...

. In an interview, Watts revealed that the idea for the film came from a dream he had when he was a child. Watts then directed '' Spider-Man: Homecoming''. Watts was so determined to be the director of the film that he admitted that he had "bothered"

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

by sending them clips of a fake trailer he made for a

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...

movie. He admits that he was very surprised and did not know he was going to get the job until the last moment. Watts directed the film's 2019 sequel '' Spider-Man: Far From Home''. He reportedly became increasingly devoted to the franchise, even starting his own extensive collection of rare spiders. Watts has also directed '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'', which was released on December 17, 2021, where he also provided the motion-capture for

Sandman The Sandman is a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. Representation in traditional folklore The Sandman is a traditional charact ...

while

Thomas Haden Church Thomas Haden Church (born Thomas Richard McMillen; June 17, 1960) is an American actor. After starring in the 1990s sitcom ''Wings'' and playing the lead for two seasons in ''Ned & Stacey'' (1995–1997)'','' Church became known for his film work, ...

reprised the voice of the character. He was confirmed to be directing the third theatrical iteration of the

, which will be set in the

but exited the project in April 2022. Watts also directed the

mid-credits scene A post-credits scene (commonly referred to as a stinger or credit cookie) or mid-credits scene is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or video g ...

of '' Venom: Let There Be Carnage'', a tie-in to ''No Way Home'', which was released two months earlier on October 1, 2021. The scene was shot during the filming of ''No Way Home''. In September 2021, it was revealed that Watts will write and direct a

starring

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 ...

and

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...

. He will also produce the project along with the two actors. By the end of the month, the project had been acquired by

Apple Studios Apple Studios is an American film and television production company and a distributor that is a subsidiary of Apple Inc. It specializes in developing and producing television series and films for Apple's digital video streaming service Apple TV ...

, and was expected to receive a "robust theatrical release". In January 2022, Watts and his wife were announced to be joining the sixth installment of the ''

Final Destination ''Final Destination'' is an American horror franchise that includes five films, two comic books, and nine novels. It is based on an unproduced spec script by Jeffrey Reddick, originally written for ''The X-Files'' television series, and was d ...

'' series as co-producers. Watts also wrote a film treatment as well, to be adapted by Lori Evans Taylor and

Guy Busick Guy Busick is an American film and television screenwriter best known for his collaborations with directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, including ''Scream'' (2022) and '' Ready or Not'' (2019). Career In 2016, Busick began his ...

. In May 2022, it was revealed that Watts will create and executive produce an

Amblin Amblin Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions and Steven Spielberg Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy (producer), Kathlee ...

inspired ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' TV series for

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

that is set after the events of ''

Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who ...

''. This series was soon revealed as '' Star Wars: Skeleton Crew'', scheduled to premiere in 2023.

Personal life

Watts is married to former talent agent and producer Dianne McGunigle.

Filmography

Feature films

Television

Acting roles

Other roles

Music videos

Commercials

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Jon 1981 births American film producers American male screenwriters American music video directors Living people People from Fountain, Colorado New York University alumni Film directors from Colorado Screenwriters from Colorado