Jonathan Liebesman - Hollywood Career

Hollywood Career

In 2002, at the age of 26, he directed his debut feature Darkness Falls. Although the film suffered from generally weak reviews, it opened at no. 1 at the US box office. The film grossed over $32.5 million at the US box office, and a further $15 million worldwide. The film was nominated for Best Horror/Thriller at the Teen Choice Awards in 2003, while the film's star, Emma Caulfield, won Face of the Future from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films that year.

Liebesman's next project, Rings (2005), which he co-wrote with Ehren Kruger, was a 15-minute short that chronologically follows the events of the full length feature, The Ring), and serves as a prequel to The Ring Two (2005). The short offered an insightful transition between the two movies, and garnered high praise from fans of both feature-length films.

The films success brought him to the attention of Michael Bay and his production company, Platinum Dunes, who hired him to direct The Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel entitled The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning opened in US theatres on 6 October 2006, and proved another box office hit for Liebesman. The $16 million movie opened at No 2 at the US box office with $18.5 million. As of 31 December 2006, the film had grossed around $50 million worldwide, including over $39.5 million in the US.

In 2007, it was initially announced that Liebesman would be the director of the Friday the 13th reboot but as of November 2007, Marcus Nispel, director of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake of 2003, replaced Liebesman.

In 2008, Liebesman completed directing his third full-length feature film entitled The Killing Room, a political thriller starring Chloë Sevigny, Nick Cannon, Timothy Hutton and Peter Stormare, about four people in a psychological study who discover they are subjects in a brutal and classified government program. The film debuted in the non-competition program at the Sundance Festival in January 2009.

In November 2008, Columbia Pictures announced that Liebesman would direct the science fiction film Battle: Los Angeles. The $70m film, based on the story written by Chris Bertolini, revolved around a Marine platoon's encounter in a battle against an alien invasion on the streets of Los Angeles. The film opened at no. 1 at the US box office on March 11, 2011, and earned over $80m at the US box office, and over $200m globally.

In early 2009, it was announced that Liebesman was attached to direct a new Warner Brothers film entitled Odysseus, an epic based on Homer’s Odyssey.

In June 2010, Liebesman was named as the director of the sequel to Clash of the Titans, entitled Wrath of the Titans, starring Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes, and Liam Neeson. Principal photography began on March 23, 2011, with filming taking place in summer 2011 in studios outside London and on location in Surrey, South Wales and in the Canary Islands on the island of Tenerife. The film was released on March 30, 2012.

In July 2011, it was announced that Warner Brothers and Liebesman would be collaborating on an upcoming biopic about Julius Caesar.

In February 2012, Liebesman entered negotiations to direct the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, Ninja Turtles. He is set to be the director for the film, with Michael Bay and his production company Platinum Dunes producing.