Joe Johnston

Joseph Eggleston Johnston II[1] (born May 13, 1950)[1] is an American film director and former visual effects artist best known for such effects-driven films as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), Jumanji (1995) and Jurassic Park III (2001). These movies include a number of period films such as The Rocketeer (1991), The Wolfman (2010), and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). Johnston also directed the biographical drama October Sky (1999).

Joe Johnston
Johnston at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.
Born
Joseph Eggleston Johnston II

(1950-05-13) May 13, 1950
Austin, Texas, United States
NationalityAmerican
EducationArt Center College of Design
Alma materCalifornia State University
OccupationFilm director
film producer
effects artist
art director
Years active1977–present
Notable work
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
The Rocketeer
Jumanji
October Sky
Jurassic Park III
Hidalgo
The Wolfman
Captain America: The First Avenger

Early life

Johnston was born in Austin, Texas,[2] and attended California State University, Long Beach, and Pasadena's Art Center College of Design.

Career

Design and visual effects

Much of the work at the beginning of Johnston's screen career combined design and special effects. He began his career as a concept artist and effects technician on the first Star Wars film, directed by George Lucas, and was art director on one of the effects teams for the sequel. His association with Lucas would later prove fruitful, when he became one of four to win an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Lucas and Steven Spielberg's film Raiders of the Lost Ark.[3] Johnston continued to work on many films as an effects expert.

He was also associate producer on fantasy Willow, and production designer on two mid-80s TV movies which featured the Ewoks seen in Return of the Jedi.

Johnston is also author of Star Wars novel The Adventures of Teebo: A Tale of Magic and Suspense, which ties into Return of the Jedi (New York: Random House, 1984; ISBN 0-394-86568-5, ISBN 0-394-96568-X).[4]

In 1984, Lucas gave Johnston a sabbatical, with salary, and paid his tuition to attend the USC School of Cinematic Arts.[5] Johnston left after a year, saying he "was asked not to return" because he "broke too many rules".[6]

Directing

Johnston made his directorial debut in 1989 with hit comedy adventure Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, starring Rick Moranis. He followed it with comic-book adaptation The Rocketeer (1991). The film was a commercial failure, as was his next, the animated and live-action The Pagemaster. Johnston rebounded, directing the family hit Jumanji, starring Robin Williams. The film overcame lukewarm reviews to gross over $260 million.[7]

Johnston was set to direct Hulk,[8] but dropped out in July 1997. Johnston then switched gears from effects-driven action films to the more personal October Sky (1999), starring a teenage Jake Gyllenhaal as a 1950s West Virginia high school student who dreams of being a rocket scientist for NASA against his father's wishes.

Johnston's first project of the 2000s was the sequel Jurassic Park III, which made over US$300 million at the box office. Johnston followed it with western Hidalgo, starring Viggo Mortensen. Johnston then took a six-year directorial break before signing on at a month's notice to take over the 2010 remake of 1941 horror classic The Wolfman. Shot in England, the film starred Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins.

In part thanks to his experience with the period superhero film The Rocketeer, Johnston was selected to direct Marvel Studios superhero adaptation Captain America: The First Avenger. Released on July 22, 2011,[9] the film stars Chris Evans as the comic book hero and Hugo Weaving as his archenemy the Red Skull. In 2012, Johnston directed the thriller Not Safe for Work for Blumhouse Productions.

On December 12, 2017, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Johnston would helm 32 days of reshoots on the film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms due to its director Lasse Hallström being unavailable.[10]

Filmography

Feature films

Directorial credits
Year Title Notes
1989 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Directorial debut
1991 The Rocketeer
1994 The Pagemaster Live-action sequences
1995 Jumanji
1999 October Sky
2001 Jurassic Park III
2004 Hidalgo
2010 The Wolfman
2011 Captain America: The First Avenger Also executive producer
2014 Not Safe for Work
2018 The Nutcracker and the Four Realms Director of reshoots and oversaw post-production[11]
Received co-director credit along with Lasse Hallström[12]

Other credits
Year Title Director Notes
1977 Star Wars George Lucas Visual effects artist
1980 The Empire Strikes Back Irvin Kershner Visual effects artist and art director
1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark Steven Spielberg
1983 Return of the Jedi Richard Marquand Art director
1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Steven Spielberg
1986 Howard the Duck Willard Huyck Ultralight sequence designer
1987 Batteries Not Included Matthew Robbins Second unit director and production manager
1988 Willow Ron Howard Associate producer
1989 Always Steven Spielberg Aerial sequence designer
1999 The Iron Giant Brad Bird Designer of the Iron Giant

Television

Directorial credits
Year Title Notes
1993 The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Episode "Princeton, February 1916"
2015 Lumen TV movie; also executive producer

Other credits
Year Title Roles
1978–1979 Battlestar Galactica Effects illustration and design
1984 The Ewok Adventure Production Designer; TV movie
1985 Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
1985-1986 Star Wars: Droids – The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO Screenwriter (episode "Coby and the Starhunters")
Design consultant (special ''The Great Heep")
2017 The Creeps Executive producer; TV short

Books written and illustrated

Accolades
YearAwardCategoryFilmResult
1981Academy AwardBest Visual Effects
(Shared with Richard Edlund, Kit West and Bruce Nicholson)		Raiders of the Lost ArkWon
1990International Fantasy Film AwardBest FilmHoney, I Shrunk the KidsNominated
1992Hugo AwardBest Dramatic Presentation
(Shared with Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, William Dear
and Dave Stevens)		The RocketeerNominated
1995International Fantasy Film AwardBest Film
(Shared with Pixote Hunt)		The PagemasterNominated
1996Saturn AwardBest DirectorJumanjiNominated
Young Artist AwardBest Family Feature - Action-AdventureWon
1999Ajijic International Film Festival AwardBest FilmOctober SkyWon
2001Saturn AwardBest Science Fiction FilmJurassic Park IIINominated
Golden Trailer AwardBest Horror/Thriller FilmNominated
Golden Raspberry AwardWorst Remake or SequelNominated
2004Golden Trailer AwardBest DramaHidalgoNominated
2010Saturn AwardBest Horror/Thriller FilmThe WolfmanNominated
2012Hugo AwardBest Dramatic Presentation
(Shared with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely)		Captain America: The First AvengerNominated
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America AwardBest FilmNominated
gollark: I mean, you could do it, but I don't see why you would want to.
gollark: I mean, you couldn't parallelize that.
gollark: Maybe. That's a different thing. I don't know if they would have an option to directly submit things to hash, and it would be slow.
gollark: It's not a significant difference, you can have a good RNG with just a bunch of XORs and bitshifts.
gollark: Otherwise lots would work on the same problem which would be inefficient.

References
  1. "Texas Birth Index, 1903–1997".
  2. Diaz, Victor. "Austin-born Oscar winner directs 'Captain America'", Austin.YNN.com, July 22, 2011.
  3. Buchanan, Jason. "Film > Film Biography > Joe Johnston", AllMovie.com, n.d.
  4. Joe Johnston. "The Adventures of Teebo". OpenLibrary.org. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  5. "2004 interview with Joe Johnston. Retrieved 12 August 2012". Articles.baltimoresun.com. March 8, 2004. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  6. "2001 filmschoolrejects website interview with Joe Johnston. Retrieved 12 August 2012". Filmschoolrejects.com. July 18, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
  7. "Jumanji (1995) - Box Office Mojo". boxofficemojo.com.
  8. Michael Fleming (April 14, 1997). "A Mania For Marvel". Variety. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  9. Nicholson, Amy. "Exclusive: 'Captain America' & 'JP4' News" Archived March 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Boxoffice, January 13, 2010
  10. Kit, Borys (December 12, 2017). "Joe Johnston to Direct Disney's 'Nutcracker and the Four Realms' Reshoots (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  11. Kit, Borys (December 12, 2017). "Joe Johnston to Direct Disney's 'Nutcracker and the Four Realms' Reshoots (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  12. Kit, Borys (July 5, 2018). "Lasse Hallstrom, Joe Johnston to Share Director Credit on 'Nutcracker and the Four Realms' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
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