Michael De Luca (born August 13, 1965) is an American film studio executive, film producer and screenwriter. The former president of production at both New Line Cinema and DreamWorks, De Luca has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Picture. De Luca formerly served as the chairman of the

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 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 ...

Motion Picture Group and currently serves as a co-chairperson and CEO of

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...

Group.

Early life

De Luca was born and raised in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. His mother was a German-Jewish immigrant, and his father, who was Italian American and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, worked at ConEdison. De Luca began pursuing a career in show business in 1986. Originally tapped to work as a story editor, he rose fairly quickly through the ranks, thanks in part to his mentor, chair and co-founder of New Line Cinema

Robert Shaye Robert Kenneth Shaye (born March 4, 1939) is an American businessman, film producer, actor, director, and writer. He is the founder of New Line Cinema, a film production studio that distributed films such as ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'', ''Te ...

. De Luca completed his degree from

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

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, th ...

in 1995.

Career

In 1990, De Luca made his debut in the film industry as an associate producer on '' Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III''. De Luca has been collecting comics since childhood and is a huge fan of

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

s and graphic novels, in particular the works of

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'' and subsequen ...

, and sci-fi properties such as '' Star Trek''. He wrote the 1994 horror film '' In the Mouth of Madness'', directed by

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

. De Luca co-wrote the story for the 1995 film adaptation of the popular British comic book character

Judge Dredd Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of '' 2000 AD'' (1977), which is a British weekly anthology comic. He is the magazine's longest-running ...

, starring Sylvester Stallone as the eponymous lead. In 1996, De Luca, a self-proclaimed "Trekkie", was approached by the producers

Brannon Braga Brannon Braga (; born August 14, 1965) is an American television producer, director and screenwriter. Best known for his work in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, Braga was a key creative force behind three of the franchise's live action series. He l ...

and Ronald D. Moore for '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and pitched an idea which turned into an opportunity to write an episode for the series, Threshold. De Luca is a former President of Production for New Line Cinema. During his tenure at New Line Cinema, he oversaw a variety of films that would come to define the studio, including '' Seven'', '' Friday'', '' Boogie Nights'', '' Austin Powers'', '' Rush Hour'', ''

Blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Histor ...

'', ''

American History X ''American History X'' is a 1998 American crime drama film directed by Tony Kaye and written by David McKenna. The film stars Edward Norton and Edward Furlong as two brothers from Los Angeles who are involved in the white power skinhead and n ...

'', and '' Magnolia''. De Luca wrote and produced '' Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare'', the sixth entry in the long-running ''

Nightmare on Elm Street ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise and stars Heather Langenk ...

'' franchise''.'' After New Line Cinema, De Luca became President of Production at DreamWorks, his tenure lasting from 2001 and 2004. After his contract with DreamWorks ended, De Luca signed a production deal with Sony Pictures and started his own production company, Michael De Luca Productions. His first release under his production company was ''

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

'' (2007) starring

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...

, followed by '' 21'' and ''

The Love Guru ''The Love Guru'' is a 2008 American romantic comedy film directed by Marco Schnabel in his directorial debut, written and produced by Mike Myers, and starring Myers, Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake, Romany Malco, Meagan Good, Verne Troyer, ...

'' (both 2008) starring

Mike Myers Michael John Myers OC (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. His accolades include seven MTV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywoo ...

. He was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar two years in a row for 2010's ''

The Social Network ''The Social Network'' is a 2010 American biographical drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, based on the 2009 book ''The Accidental Billionaires'' by Ben Mezrich. It portrays the founding of social networking websi ...

'' (2010) and ''Moneyball'' (2011). He received a third nomination in 2014 for producing Paul Greengrass' '' Captain Phillips''. De Luca also produced the 2011 remake of the cult classic vampire horror film '' Fright Night''. De Luca and

Dana Brunetti Dana Brunetti (born June 11, 1973) is an American media executive, film producer, entrepreneur and co-founder and chief content officer of Cavalry Media. Brunetti has been nominated for two Academy Awards for producing '' The Social Network'' ...

reunited for ''

Fifty Shades of Grey ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James. It became the first instalment in the ''Fifty Shades'' novel series that follows the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, ...

,'' the 2015 film adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name. It was a massive financial success, becoming one of the highest-grossing R-rated films of all time. On January 3, 2020, it was announced that De Luca had been appointed Chairman of the

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 ...

Motion Picture Group. In July 2022 he and Pamela Abdy left for

Group, taking up the roles of co-chairpersons and CEOs.

Personal life

De Luca was previously in a relationship with actress

Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent films, ...

, star of New Line's '' Boogie Nights''. In 2009, he married actress Angelique Madrid (born 1974) from Ft. Worth, Texas, who was a contestant on the first season of ABC's '' The Bachelor''. They have a daughter, and a son, Caden (born 2012).

Filmography

Film

;Miscellaneous crew ;Thanks

Television

TV specials * 89th Academy Awards (2017) *

90th Academy Awards The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2017, and took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was held on March 4, ...

(2018) Executive producer Writer ;Miscellaneous crew ;As an actor

References

External links

*
DeLuca Interview at ColliderDeLuca at Hollywood
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Luca, Michael 1965 births Living people American male screenwriters American television writers American male television writers American people of German-Jewish descent American writers of Italian descent Film producers from New York (state) Golden Globe Award-winning producers Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer executives Screenwriters from New York (state) Tisch School of the Arts alumni Writers from Brooklyn